In the Spirit of Christmas
by EpicLoVe111
Summary: This takes place during the Christmas Poker Game in the 1st season. What if instead of stabbing Aaron, Lynn got in the way and was stabbed. Would it change things between Veronica and Logan? LoVe relationship and also Logan's relationship with his parents. Rated T for profanity.
1. Christmas Poker Game

**OK so here's my new Logan and Veronica story. This takes place during the poker game. This is a different version of how things could have went. This will more than likely be released slower than the other stories just because I've got so many going on right now. I'd love to know what you think so let me know if a review, OK?**

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Was there anything better than kicking the asses of the frenemies she's had in the past? Veronica was surrounded by four guys, 1 of them she currently loathed with a passion. Another of them she had loved for over a year but he had spent the past year avoiding her like the plague. The third one had been a frenemy but could be considered more or less a friend now. And the fourth…well, Connor was just hot and she loved his abs.

Veronica had just finished dealing a hand and was putting her cards together. She glanced over at each of the guys. She couldn't tell what Logan was trying to pull by his expression. He kept it stoic but honestly out of the last 8 hands, he hadn't won any of them. He glared at her periodically which made her smirk to herself. She knew that as soon as she mentioned she'd never played poker, the first thought that was running through Logan's mind was that there would be no way in hell she'd be getting her hands on the 5 grand pot.

Veronica then glanced at Duncan who had a terrible poker face. He really did convey his emotions while he looked at his cards. Veronica actually found this hilarious. She never had to worry about losing a hand to him.

Weevil had been having some halfway decent cards but hers always seemed to be better. He had managed to win a couple of the hands though. Weevil was rather impressed at the luck Veronica was having.

Veronica then smiled at Connor. God, he was hot. She had tried to maintain her composure though. He was the one that had won the other game. She then glanced over at Logan who couldn't maintain his distaste over watching the two of them. Apparently Connor liked the attention Veronica was giving him because he grinned back at her. He then smirked at Logan because he knew how much it pissed him off.

"So tell me Connor." Veronica started as she looked at her cards and the pre-flop card. She debated what to bet. She had excellent cards in her hand. "How well do you know Logan and Duncan?"

"Well, I've known Logan longer than I've known Duncan. I've known Logan from doing movies with his dad…"

Logan rolled his eyes at the admission.

"And Duncan I've known from these games."

Veronica nodded as she placed her bet. Logan raised, Duncan and Weevil checked.

The next card was dealt and Veronica raised then.

"How long have you known them?"

Veronica glanced at each of them. "Duncan I've known since I was about 9. His sister and I were best friends."

Logan's face became stone cold at the mention of Lilly and Veronica groaned. "Take a chill pill, would you? Geez, Logan. And Logan I've known since I was 12."

"So you guys are good friends?"

Logan snorted and Duncan choked on his iced tea.

"We used to be." Veronica admitted as the next card was flipped over. This hand was looking excellent for her too. "Things had changed. Duncan and I used to date and then we broke up. Logan became a jackass the day after Lilly died."

Weevil snickered at that and that earned him a death glare from Logan.

"I did not."

"Oh you did too. A week after she died when my dad accused Jake of murdering Lilly you gave me an ultimatum. Did you really think I had a chance to go against my dad?"

"I would have."

"Of course you would have." Veronica snorted as the last card was dealt. "You can't stand your dad. Let's play devil's advocate. Let's say you had to decide between your mom and your friends then what would you do?" Veronica's eyes stared at Logan. Logan sighed as he knew she had a point.

"I rest my case." She told him as they laid their cards out. Veronica won yet again and slid all of the chips to herself.

Veronica smirked. "A little impressed aren't you?"

"You must be really unlucky in love." Connor commented and Veronica laughed.

"You have no idea." She admitted. "My relationship with Duncan was just the tip of the iceberg."

Weevil dealt the next hand and yet again Veronica won. "You know what's funny? If we were playing strip poker, you two would probably be naked by now." Veronica smirked.

"No we wouldn't." Duncan argued.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure you would. If not that, I'm sure you'd at least be in your boxers."

"Gee, I wonder if you two are wearing the same design again." Weevil commented.

"I heard about that. Seriously can't you two do something more original?" Veronica snickered.

Veronica's phone started to ring then.

"Turn it off." Logan told her.

"Shut up Logan. This is my dad. Hello?"

"Hi honey."

"Hey dad." She told him as she watched Logan shuffle the cards. "What's up?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm in Logan's poolhouse kicking his and Duncan's asses at Texas Hold 'Em. Why?"

"Since when do you play poker?"

"Since I gave myself a 3 hour crash course earlier today."

"Listen, I just arrived at the Echolls house…"

Veronica frowned. "You're here?"

Logan looked up at that then returned to tend to the cards.

"Why are you here?"

"Well, I thought that the stalker was here tonight. Listen is Logan by you?"

She sighed. "Yes, he is. He's sitting right next to me dealing the cards. Why?"

Logan frowned.

"Well, there's a commotion in here."

"Logan, stop messing with the cards." She whispered. He wouldn't though so Veronica grabbed his wrist. "Stop it." She hissed. "What kind of commotion?"

"The stalker lady who was after Aaron stabbed Lynn."

"What?" She rose from her seat She still had Logan's wrist so she let her grasp on it go. All of the guys looked at her with wide eyes. "What happened?"

"I guess she was trying to protect Aaron so when she went to stab Aaron, Lynn got in the way and she stabbed her."

Veronica quickly shut her phone and grabbed Logan by the arm. "Come on, we have to go to the main house. Some crazy lady just stabbed your mom."

"What?" Logan's voice shrilled.

"Yeah, that's just what my dad said. Come on."

Everyone flew from their seats and ran into the main house. As soon as Keith had hung up from Veronica, he called for the ambulance. Logan started to push people out of the way.

"Mom?"

He knelt beside his mom. The crazy lady stabbed her in the abdomen.

"I'm…I'm fine Logan. It'll be OK." She grabbed his hand and gave it a quick squeeze.

Ten minutes later the ambulance arrived and took Lynn to the hospital to have tests done and see if she needed to have surgery. As they waited to hear, Logan stayed far away from his dad. He knew this was all because of him and Logan despised him with a passion for that. Logan looked down the hallway and saw Veronica slowly inching her way towards him. Her father was behind her. Logan's face went bland. He wasn't sure what to make of her showing up.

"Umm…Aaron?" Keith went over to him. Logan looked up. "I'm sorry Logan. Your mom's strong. She'll be fine." He tried to reassure Logan and Logan solemnly nodded. "Aaron, I just got done talking to Lamb and he has arrested the waitress who stabbed Lynn. She's being held without bond."

Aaron, who had been leaning against the wall, stood straight and cleared his throat. "Umm…thank you, Keith."

"They found the weapon hidden under the table."

Aaron nodded.

Veronica stood by Logan. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah fine." Logan mumbled and turned away from her.

Veronica couldn't help but pity him. It was true that they could be considered adversaries; Veronica was trying not to think about that though. Logan glared over at his dad.

"Excuse me…Mr. Echolls?" A man dressed in green scrubs had made his way down the hallway.

"Yes."

"I'm Dr. Reichmuth. I am the doctor that has been attending to your wife."

"Yes doctor? How's my wife?"

"She's doing well. She will however need surgery to repair the damage caused by the stab wound."

"Is she going to be OK?" Logan asked.

"Yes, she should be once we're done. She's being prepped for surgery. She has lost some blood and will need a transfusion."

"Tell me where." Logan told the doctor.

"Logan…" His dad started and Logan's eyes turned dark.

"Shut the hell up with whatever excuse you're going to give me, dad. We're only here because of you and the fact that you can't keep your pants zipped."

Aaron became irate then and Keith had to stop him from trying to hit Logan. "Aaron," He told him in a low voice. "It would not be wise to do that. There's a security guard down the hall that is currently watching you."

Aaron flipped around and saw the security guard standing there with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed on Aaron.

"Logan, I won't consent it."

"Have you got a better idea, dad?" Logan snapped. "Her blood type is rare and I'm a match and regardless if you approve or not, I'm 17. I don't need your consent. " He turned to the doctor. "Tell me where." Logan repeated.

The doctor nodded and led Logan down the hall to the lab. Veronica watched him walk away and a small smile crept onto her face. It was nice to see that he was doing whatever he could for his mom. She wasn't surprised in the least though. Logan loved his mom. Of that she was sure. She wished she could say the same about her own mom.

"We're going to go." Keith announced to Aaron. "Aaron I'll keep you updated about what's going on."

"Thank you Keith. I appreciate it."

Veronica had a hard time falling asleep. She heard her phone beep at 12:38. She sighed as she flipped the phone open and read: _U can come get ur money 2morrow morning._

She sighed. She wanted to ask him how his mom was doing, how he was doing but ultimately she just decided to respond with: _OK I'll b there around 10_

_OK._

Veronica slowly exhaled. She started to think about when everything fell apart. It did hurt her…a lot actually when Logan made her choose between her dad and her friends. She didn't want to but her dad had always been there when she needed him. He never abandoned her unlike her mom. Veronica wished she could make Logan understand that things weren't so black and white as he made them seem. There was gray.

She thought he was beginning to understand just how complicated things were now. She had heard that Lynn made it through surgery great and a lot of it had to do with the fact that Logan donated his blood to her. His mom was his rock…much like Veronica's dad was her rock.

Shortly after 10 the next morning, Veronica made her way to the Echolls' house. Weevil's grandmother, Mrs. Navarro, had let Veronica in the gate. She spoke to her a few minutes and Mrs. Navarro had told her that Logan was in the pool house. She made her way there just as she had done a couple days before. Logan was there again playing video games.

Honestly he looked like hell. If Veronica had to guess she would say he hadn't slept at all.

"Hey." Veronica said quietly.

He glanced over at her for a second. "Hey."

"How's your mom doing?" She tried to put her hand on his shoulder but he quickly winced and shrugged it off.

"Wouldn't know." He told her shortly.

Veronica looked confused. "Why not?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Of course it does. What's going on?"

He was quiet which irritated her.

"My dad's being a dick and told the hospital not to release any information to me."

"What?" Her eyes grew wide. "Can they really do that?"

"Since I'm a minor he can do whatever the hell he wants." He paused the game and got up to get Veronica her money. He went to the drawer and handed her the roll of money. "Here you go."

"Umm…thanks." She told him as she unrolled the money and counted it.

"Seriously? Are you so petty that you have to count it make sure it's all there?" Logan asked her, annoyed.

"Shut up, dumbass." Veronica snapped as she counted out the money and stopped when she got to two thousand. She handed it to him. "Here."

"And what is this?"

"It's your two grand."

Logan stared at her confused.

"You know, the grand for yourself and the grand you put in for me. Here take it. I don't want it."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because I needed three grand to buy my dad his dream Christmas present. I have three grand now." She flashed the wad at him.

Logan sighed and handed it back to her. "No, keep it. I don't need it."

"Yeah, honestly, I don't need it either." She turned to walk away.

"Veronica you won it fair and square. Just keep it." He held the smaller wad out to her.

Veronica sighed and very reluctantly took it back. "Fine. I'm only taking it back because I'm tired of fighting about it. It's not because I need it."

"Whatever you say."

She groaned. "I'm trying to think of why I'm even trying to be nice to you. So far my mind is blank."

"Mine is too."

"You know, in the spirit of Christmas I was going to try to figure out a way to get you in to see your mom at the hospital but now…" She spun around on her heels to head for the pool house door.

It took Logan three seconds before he stopped her. "Wait."

Veronica very reluctantly stopped.

"Why would you do that?"

"I told you; it's in the spirit of Christmas." She slowly walked back over to him. "And maybe I also know how much your mom means to you."

"My dad is at her bedside. You'll never get past him."

Veronica smirked. "You leave that to me."

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**This story will cover not only Veronica and Logan's friendship, but it's going to cover Aaron's abuse of his son too. That will be brought up in future chapters. Kind of why I mentioned when she touched him, he winced. Anyway, please review OK? **


	2. Disguises and Diversions

**Hey! OK so it took a little thought to figure out just how Veronica was going to get Logan past Aaron. It just came to me last night. I liked how this chapter turned out. Hopefully you will too. Speaking of, I have never written a chapter that had gotten me so many reviews! I'm very flattered that everyone's liking this story. I would love to know your thoughts on this chapter too so please review!**

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"My dad is at her bedside. You'll never get past him."

Veronica smirked. "You leave that to me." She paused for a moment, looking pensive.

Logan frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Contemplating my disguise. It'll be a candy striper for sure but I'm debating which wig I should wear."

"You have wigs?" Logan raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I do." She scoffed at the tone of the question. "I keep them on hand whenever a situation would arise that I need to go undercover for."

"OK so what do you want me to do?"

"Meet me at my apartment in an hour. Oh! And I'll need Connor's phone number."

Logan's expression went dark. "What the hell for?"

"Uh…duh. He and your dad are on the same movie again, correct?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Well, I'm going to set something up with him about how he has to be called away from the hospital to go on the set."

"I doubt he's going to buy that."

"I'm not hearing you contribute any ideas you know."

"I was thinking about Trina."

"Your sister?"

"Yeah."

"And what does Trina have to do with this?"

"You know I remember two or three years ago, you had done a stellar impression of her over the phone."

Veronica's eyes shot around the room. "Umm…when was that?"

"I don't know; at one of the many parties we were all that."

Veronica tried to rack her brain. "Was I drunk at this party?"

Logan chuckled at that. "Umm…I don't think so. Seriously? You don't remember that? We had you call my dad and you were able to convince him that Trina was eloping with some guy in Vegas."

Ahh…that's right. "OK. Yeah, that was Duncan's birthday party if I remember right."

"Yeah, it was. He headed straight for the airport."

"Did he ever figure out it was me?"

"No, to this day he has no clue who it really was."

"So what are you saying? You think I'd be able to convince him again?"

"Worth a shot."

"Something tells me he won't buy that eloping story again."

"I know he'd blow a gasket if she was knocked up."

Veronica smirked. "He would, wouldn't he? Now I just have to figure out how to spoof her number and make sure that he doesn't call back and actually get her." Veronica had a contemplative look on her face. "I'll do some figuring out on that. OK, I'm going to go. Meet me at my apartment in an hour."

"Fine."

Fifty minutes later, Veronica was putting the finishing touches on her outfit. She was in her candy striper outfit, dabbing fake freckles on her face. She had on a red haired wig which was in braided pigtails. She had black wire rim glasses on.

There was a knock on her bedroom door. "Umm…come in."

"Honey…" Keith opened the door. "umm…Logan is here."

Veronica turned around and smiled. "Wow! He's early. That's scary."

"Honey, exactly what is this get-up all about?"

She sighed. "Aaron won't let any information be released to Logan about how his mom is doing. I'm going to sneak him into the hospital to see her."

"Do I want to know how you plan on doing this?" Keith raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"No, probably not."

"Just don't do anything that will get you arrested, OK?"

"OK." She headed out of the room and as soon as Logan saw her, his mouth dropped open. "And just who the hell are you supposed to be?"

Veronica flashed a big grin. "I'm Penny, the new candy striper."

"You look like Pippi Longstocking with glasses." Logan mused as he walked around her.

"And how the hell do you know who Pippi Longstocking is?" Veronica raised a curious eyebrow.

"Oh that's not important. We'll save that story for another day."

"I'm holding you to that." Veronica vowed as she grabbed her cell, her keys and her purse. "OK let's go. Bye dad!" She called to him.

"I mean it Veronica. You better not wind up in jail."

"I won't. I promise."

They made their way to the parking lot and Logan made his way to his X-terra and Veronica to her LeBaron. "No, no. We're taking my car."

"What? Why?"

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Yeah, let's take your ugly yellow eyesore so that way when your dad walks through the parking garage and sees it, he'll turn right around and run back to your mom's room."

Logan opened his mouth then quickly closed it. OK, that was true. The X-terra did tend to stand out in a crowd.

"The point of this is to blend in so that way we don't stand out enough to draw attention."

"Yeah, you're going to do that all by yourself." He retorted.

"Shut up or you can get back in that ugly yellow monstrosity and go home and wait until your mom comes home in a few days to see her."

Logan chose to shut up then.

"Did you call Trina?" Veronica asked as they made their down the freeway.

"Yeah, she's in Australia filming for some stupid slasher movie."

"OK what did she say?"

"Well, I asked if she heard about mom and she said yes and she said she was also told not to tell me anything."

"Did she say when the last time was that she talked to your dad?"

"She said not since last night when he called."

Veronica nodded. "OK. So this should work out good."

Logan nodded then. "I hope so."

Veronica glanced over at him. "Have some faith, Logan. It is Christmas after all."

It took 20 minutes to get to the hospital from Veronica's apartment. They parked on the ground floor of the parking garage. It wasn't hard to spot Aaron's flashy convertible several cars up from them. Well, it did brand ECHOLLS1 on it.

Veronica took a deep breath and glanced over at him. "You ready?"

Logan nodded.

Veronica went to work and called Aaron from her phone. Up in Lynn's room, Aaron and Lynn were fighting about how he wouldn't let Logan come and see her.

"He specifically disobeyed me." Aaron spat. "He deserves to be punished for it."

"You will not lay a hand on him, Aaron otherwise I'll divorce you so fast your head will spin."

"You try and I'll make sure you're left with nothing."

His phone rang then and the read out said Trina Cell. "Hello sweetheart." He answered.

Veronica's insides clenched. She calmed herself and told him sadly. "Hi daddy." She tipped the phone towards Logan so he could hear.

"Trina…sweetheart…is something wrong?"

"Oh daddy. I don't know what to do." Veronica acted like she was ready to start bawling. "I'm in so much trouble."

"Now, honey, don't say that. Tell me what's wrong and we can see about how we can fix it." Aaron paused. "Is it money?"

"No. No, it's not money."

A smirk graced Logan's face. Thank god, he's buying this. Veronica smiled. OK he had to give her credit. She was a hell of an actress.

"Well, what's wrong?"

"I'm…I'm pregnant, daddy."

"What?" He yelled.

"Yeah, I…I just found out this morning. I don't know what to do, daddy. I don't think I can have a baby right now. I can't be a mom."

"Now Trina don't do anything rash. Why don't you just come home and we can talk about it."

"I can't. The studio won't let me go. We still have another week of shooting. I…need you, daddy. Can you please come?"

Aaron sighed heavily. "Sweetheart, you know I can't. Your mom is still in the hospital."

"Yeah, I know. Can you tell her I'm thinking about her?"

"Sure, sweetheart."

"The studio wants to send some flowers. What room is she in again?"

"768."

Logan's mouth dropped open. Veronica smirked.

"Please daddy? I…need you. The guy who did this won't even knowledge that this is his baby. I only slept with one guy, daddy. It's his and he told me he won't help me out until I prove it's his by a paternity test."

"Trina, your mom needs me."

"Actually I don't." Lynn said in the background.

Logan's mouth dropped open and so did Veronica's.

Veronica could hear that the phone was covered but she could still hear Aaron and Lynn's conversation.

"Honey." This time it was said to Lynn. "You need me."

"No, Aaron, you think I do but I don't. Please. Go fly to Australia to see Trina. She sounds like she really needs you right now."

"Logan will not enter this room."

Logan scowled at that.

"Fine. Have it your way."

That made Logan sad to hear that. Of course it was like Lynn was being held against her will.

"Sweetheart, I'll take the next plane out, OK?"

"Oh, thank you so much daddy. Really. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Of course, sweetheart. I'll see you soon." Veronica could hear a knock in the background.

"Bye daddy."

"Connor…" The line went dead then.

Veronica's mouth gaped open as she hung up. "Oh, shit Connor's there."

"Now what are we going to do?"

Veronica sighed heavily. "Nothing. Let's just hope we can get him to play along with this scheme."

Veronica and Logan kept watch on the parking garage door. She grabbed a lip gloss out of her purse and pulled the mirror down. She caught Aaron storming out into the garage.

"Get down." She hissed as she pushed him down. Veronica then opened the mirror and started to apply her lip gloss. Aaron stormed past on his way to his car, never paying any attention to Veronica in her car. Aaron quickly sped out of the garage.

"OK. We're good now." Veronica started to close things up. "Let's go."

They made their way swiftly into the hospital and got into the hospital without drawing too much attention. They rode the elevator in silence for the majority of the way. Two floors before they would be getting off, Logan turned to Veronica.

"Hey listen..."

Veronica glanced over at him.

"Thank you for doing this for me. I do appreciate it."

She gave him a small grin. "Don't thank me just yet. We need to get in and out and get Connor to go along with this if he's still there."

The elevator door opened and Connor stood there. Logan hid to the side of the elevator. He pressed the number 8.

"Hello Mr. Larkin. Going up?" Veronica asked innocently.

"Ahh…no. Actually down."

"Oh, sorry. I'm heading up."

Connor nodded as the elevator doors closed.

"Shit that was close."

"Yeah. OK. Now we need to get out on the 8th floor and take the stairs to the 7th instead." Veronica quickly reached into her purse and pulled out a black wig. "Here. Put that on."

"What? A wig? Are you serious?"

"Logan, the staff knows what you look like I'm sure because you're Aaron Echolls' son. They also know they know you're not supposed to be allowed in your mom's room. I thought maybe we could get away without having to have you do this but apparently not. Put it on."

Logan sighed as he glanced at it. It was a short cropped wig.

The elevator doors opened and there were a couple nurses who looked up but then turned their attention back to their charts. They stood out in the hall and looked around.

"OK." Veronica pointed to the sign. "This way." She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the stairs. They made their way down the stairs and Veronica opened the door a crack and peeked in. At the exact time a male older doctor was exiting.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The burly looking doctor told her.

"Oh, that's quite alright. It's my fault really." She pushed her glasses up for effect.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

Veronica shook her head quickly. "Oh. Umm…no thank you. I had gotten off on the wrong floor. I just decided to not wait for the next elevator and took the stairs instead."

"Are you new?"

"Yes." Veronica gave a shy smile. "Today is my first day. My name is Penny." She extended her hand.

The doctor shook it. "Nice to meet you, Penny. I hope you'll enjoy working here."

"Umm..thank you."

"Were you needing any help, young man?" He glanced over at Logan. Logan felt like he was in a spotlight. He glanced at Veronica who stared at him.

"No. Thank you sir. I had ridden the elevator with her. She was guiding me to the right floor to visit my dad."

The doctor glanced between them and nodded. "OK, please let us know if you need any other assistance."

"Thank you."

The doctor continued down the stairs and Veronica and Logan took huge sighs of relief.

"Come on. We better get moving." They slowly made their way down the hall.

"Excuse me…" An elderly woman signaled to Veronica. She pushed Logan into the linen closet. "Can you tell me how to get to room 724?"

Veronica smiled. "Umm…sure. Right this way." Logan peeked out and Veronica glanced over her shoulder and her eyes darted to the right. Logan nodded and readjusted his hair and made his way down the hallway. He quickly found room 768. He paused outside and listened. He couldn't hear anyone in it. He glanced around then snuck in.

He stood at her bedside. Lynn had drifted off to sleep. "Mom." He whispered.

Lynn cracked an eye open. "Logan?"

Logan then realized that he was still wearing the black wig. He pulled it off. "Yeah. Sorry mom. It's what I had to do to get in to see you."

"Oh honey." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly. "Honey, I'm so glad to see you. Your dad told me he wasn't going to let you in. He just left."

Logan nodded. "I know. I saw him leave." He smirked at her. "Actually, I had to work some fancy stuff to get in here but Veronica concocted a plan to get him to leave."

Lynn stared at him curiously. "Veronica? Really?"

He nodded. "She pretended to be Trina."

Lynn's eyes grew wide. "That was Veronica that just called?"

He nodded again. "She does a pretty good Trina impression."

"She must if your dad bought it. Oh honey. I want to say thank you."

Logan looked at her curiously. "For what?"

"Well, I heard it was your blood that I was given."

Logan nodded. "Yeah, it was."

"Thank you honey."

"Of course mom. We've got a pretty rare type of blood. I would donate anything I needed to make sure you were OK."

"You're so sweet honey." Lynn smiled. "You know I would do the same for you."

"I know." He bobbed his head. "I'm so sorry this happened to you." His expression was crestfallen.

"Logan, these things happen."

Logan scowled. "No, they don't just happen."

Lynn frowned.

"The only reason this happened at all is because dad yet again was thinking with the wrong head."

"Logan." His mom had her warning tone.

"Well, it's true mom." He was surprised. "Why are you not more mad about this? You could have died! And it's all because dad can't keep his pants zipped."

"Logan…" Lynn bit her lip.

"Please…" His eyes looked sad. "Tell me why. Explain to why you're still with him."

She gave a rueful smile. "Because I love him."

"Mom…"

"Logan…I…just don't know if I'm strong enough to leave him."

"Mom, you have me. We could leave him."

"I…I don't know, Logan. He told me that if I try to leave him, he'd leave me with nothing."

"Mom, we don't need him." He emphasized. "We could start over."

"You'd have nothing." Lynn reminded him. "The money, the house, your X-terra more than likely. It would all be gone."

Logan paused for a moment as he thought. He surprised himself as he heard the words coming out of his mouth. "I don't care. I would be fine. We would be fine."

Veronica came around the corner. "After awhile, you don't even miss it."

Lynn's eyes narrowed. Veronica was still in her candy striper outfit.

"How are you doing, Mrs. Echolls?"

Lynn's eyes grew wide. "Veronica?"

Logan smirked as he shook his head. "No, she's Penny the candy striper." He mocked teasingly.

"Excuse me, who do have to thank for getting you in here?"

Logan gave a knowing smile. "I know. I already said thank you."

There was another knock on the door and Logan froze and Veronica pointed to his hair. He quickly put the wig back on.

"Mrs. Echolls?" A younger doctor, maybe in his 40's came in. Lynn quickly released Logan's hand. "Oh hello. Mrs. Echolls is not allowed visitors per her husband's instructions."

"I'm sorry." Veronica smiled apologetically. "I just started today. I'm Penny."

The doctor stared at her curiously. "Umm…hello."

"I was making my rounds visiting people and saw that she was Mrs. Echolls. I had went to school with her daughter. She knows me."

Lynn smiled as she grabbed Veronica's hand and squeezed it. "Penny was a very good friend of Trina's back when they were in school together. It's quite alright, doctor. Aaron wouldn't mind."

"And this gentleman?"

"This young man is working with my husband on his latest movie. I have had several people stop by from the movie set." She pointed to a huge bouquet of flowers with a pink balloon that read Get Well Soon. "He brought those flowers for me."

The doctor stared skeptically at each of them. He slowly nodded. "Alright. Would you please excuse us? I need to discuss Mrs. Echolls' test results with her."

"Sure." Veronica smiled. "It was nice to see you again, Mrs. Echolls. Please get well soon."

"Thank you, Penny. "

As soon as the curtain was pulled across separating the room, Veronica and Logan stepped into the bathroom.  
"Wait here until he leaves." She whispered. "Say goodbye to your mom and then we need to get the hell out of here before someone recognizes us. Got me?"

Logan slowly nodded. Veronica sneakily got out without attracting too much attention. She made her way into another patient's room to talk to them. Logan listened by the bathroom door. A couple minutes later, he heard the doctor leave and Logan snuck out of the bathroom.

Lynn smiled when Logan came back and stood beside her. "Look. I need to go. The last thing I need is someone recognizing me and letting dad know."

Lynn nodded.

"Just…please give some thought to what I said. I know we would be OK, mom." He leaned to hug her. "I love you."

Lynn had tears in her eyes as she kissed him. "I love you too sweetie. I'll see you soon."

Logan had tears in his eyes too. "Promise me, mom."

"Promise what?"

"Promise me you'll think about it. We could live in a world that is not dictated by Aaron Echolls. We could be free from the abuse."

Veronica froze behind the curtain as she raised an eyebrow. Abuse? What abuse?

"We wouldn't have to live in fear. I could escape dad's belts and the fun he has with them and you wouldn't have to put up with the emotional abuse he puts you through."

Oh my god. Aaron beats Logan, she realized. Veronica's heart clenched at that. Now that makes sense. He did wince when she touched him earlier. She must have touched one of the scars. Oh god, this explains so much.

"Promise me, mom."

"OK." Lynn nodded. "I promise. I'll think about it."

"Umm…Logan." Veronica peeked around the curtain. Logan glanced over his shoulder. "Come on. We need to go."

"Bye mom." He hugged her again.

"Bye sweetie." She kissed him again.

Logan disappeared behind the curtain and headed out of the room and down the hallway. Before she could leave, Lynn called for Veronica.

"Yeah?" She peeked around the corner again.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

Veronica nodded a silent 'you're welcome'.

They made their way down the hall to the elevators. Logan was silent for most of the way.

"Did you hear?"

Veronica glanced over at him as she removed her glasses. "Hear what?"

"What I said about my dad?"

Veronica bit her lip. "Yeah, I did."

"No one can know that."

"The fact that you think I would go and blab that around school is kind of an insult, Logan." Her eyes narrowed.

"That's not what I meant."

Veronica looked away. Yeah she knew that Logan was talking about her telling her dad. "I won't say anything." She told him quietly. "Which is really stupid considering it could help you away from him."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"It could." Veronica insisted. "My dad has worked on enough cases, especially when he was sheriff when it came to abuse allegations, it could help you."

Logan solemnly shook his head. "I can't."

"Why the hell not?" Veronica replied exasperated.

"I can't. Not without my mom."

Veronica finally got it.

"I can't leave her with him." He told her quietly. "He'd kill her." He revealed darkly. "I have no doubt about that. The main reason he hasn't is because of me. I know it is."

"What do you mean?"

"He knows if he kills her…that I'll kill him."

"Logan…" Veronica said as the door to the elevator doors open and there stood Connor again.

Veronica bit her lip.

"Hey Veronica…" He smirked then glanced over at Logan. "Logan."

"Connor…" Veronica pulled him out into the parking garage with them. "Please…you can not breathe a word of this to Aaron."

"How the hell did you pull this off?" Connor stared at them.

"She's a woman of my disguises." Logan muttered.

"Please Connor. You can't tell Aaron about this." She pleaded.

He stared at her for a moment.

"Logan just wanted to see his mom. It wasn't right that Aaron was keeping her from him. Especially after he saved her life."

Connor's gaze shot over to Logan. "He did?"

Logan rolled his eyes at Connor's tone. It was annoying that he didn't even think it would be possible that he could do that.

"Yeah." Veronica nodded as they made their way to Veronica's car. "He donated his blood to her."

"OK." Connor nodded. "He won't hear about it from me."

Veronica grinned and Logan breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Connor. Really thank you. We appreciate it." Her eyes shot over to Logan. "Don't we Logan?"

"Umm…yeah. I do. Thank you."

Connor nodded. "But I want something in return."

Logan groaned. "Of course you do." He retorted.

"Not from you, Echolls. From Veronica."

"OK." Veronica nodded. "What's that?"

"Have dinner with me."

Logan's eyes grew wide and he started to complaints. "Like hell…"

Veronica quickly covered his mouth with her hand. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I am. What do you say?"

Veronica smirked at Logan who was trying to remove her hand from his mouth. He wasn't being successful though. She was quite strong even given her size. "I'd love to. When?"

"How about tomorrow night? 7 o'clock?"

"Sounds great." She grinned.

He wrote his number down and handed it to her.

"OK see you tomorrow, Veronica. See ya Logan."

"Yeah." Logan muttered under his breath.

"Bye." She did a quick wave to him and then got in her car.

"You can't be serious." Logan told her as he took off his wig and handed it to her. She tossed it in the back seat.

She pulled off her wig and tossed it in the back seat. "Why not? He's hot." She glanced at herself in the mirror and quickly ran her fingers through her hair.

"Veronica…"

"Logan, why do you care? If a date is what he wants in order to keep his mouth shut and not have him say a word to your dad, don't you think that just may be worth it?"

Logan sighed. "I guess." He sulked the rest of the way to her apartment. The ride was spent in silence.

When she parked next to his X-terra, neither one of them budged for a moment.

"So…umm..thanks again, Veronica."

"Yeah." She nodded. "You're welcome."

He opened the door and paused again. "Word of advice though."

Veronica sighed. She knew that was too good to be true. "What?"

"Just be careful."

"Wow, Logan. That almost sounded like you care what happens to me."

He smirked as he closed the door. "I do. I do more than you know." He whispered as he got in his X-terra and drove away.

* * *

**So anyone ever see Pippi Longstocking growing up? I love that movie! I watched the newer version that came out in the late 80's though. If you haven't, google it and you'll see what she looks like. Pippi has her hair in pigtails but it's also pretty much sticking out the sides so it's not exactly like her. Like I said google it; you'll see what I mean. Anyway, I hope you liked it. I'll cover Veronica and Connor's date. As for Veronica's impersonating Trina, I remember how she did one of Gia in season 2 so that's what prompted me to think about that. Anyway, review please! I love reading them! **


	3. Assumptions

**Wow! So sorry it took this long to get this chapter out. I never meant for it to take this long. I had a little bit of difficulty writing it because of the date. Thank you for all of the reviews! I'm so glad that people are loving the story. I do have a lot of fun writing it. On that note, please review this one and let me know what you thought.**

* * *

There was a knock on Veronica's apartment door at 6:58. She was putting the final touches on her makeup. Veronica had chosen to wear a simple dark red satin knee length dress. She knew Lilly would have loved it.

Keith went to answer it as she finished getting ready.

"Dad…" Veronica hissed.

He turned around.

"Don't scare him. He's a nice guy."

"Nice like Troy?" Her dad raised a curious eyebrow.

"No, nice as in nice. I mean it, dad. Don't scare him."

Keith scoffed at the notion as if he would be anything other than nice.

Veronica tried to hurry as she knew what her dad was like meeting any guy she had dated. She could hear them talking. She could tell by Connor's voice that he was trying to act calm but she had a pretty good idea that was just a facade.

"Hi." Veronica told them as she walked briskly into the living room. She quickly grabbed her purse.

"Hey Veronica." Connor flashed a million dollar grin at her which made her heart skip a beat just for a second. "Wow! You look great."

"Thanks." She smiled. "OK, well we should be going." Veronica told her dad.

"And where are you going to go?" Keith asked in a fatherly tone. Veronica sighed. She was so close to getting out of the apartment.

"Well, I was going to take Veronica to dinner and then thought we would stop by a Christmas party one of my friends is having."

Keith nodded. He glanced at his daughter and gave her a warning look.

"Yeah, yeah we've went over this, dad. No drinking, no drugs, no sex. I've got that look down pat."

Connor stared at her surprised.

"Be home by midnight. A minute later and…"

"I won't be allowed out until after I graduate. I know."

Keith smirked. Yeah, so he had given this speech a time or two.

"OK. Have a good time."

Veronica grabbed Connor's hand and tugged him towards the door. As soon as they arrived at his Porsche, he politely opened the door for her and let her get in then closed it. He got in the driver's side and then closed it and saw there for a moment.

"So that's your dad." He commented as he started his car.

Veronica smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. He's a little overprotective."

"Nah, it's cool." Connor brushed it off. "It's understandable given your situation."

_My situation_, Veronica mused. "So, out of curiosity, who did you hear about my situation from?"

"Oh, you know." He shrugged. "People talk."

"That they do." Veronica sighed. "Was it Logan?"

"I take anything Logan Echolls says with a grain of salt."

She smiled.

"I take it he wasn't too happy with this date."

Veronica shrugged. "Not really. He warned me that I should be careful."

"And what do you think?"

"I think I take anything Logan Echolls says with a grain of salt too."

Connor chuckled.

"No, as far as my situation goes, it's fine if it was him who told you. The thing is, Logan likes to live in the spoiled 09 world and only about half of what he believes is actually true."

"Logan's always been a spoiled brat. He has been ever since he was 9 years old."

_Not always_, Veronica thought to herself. "So is that when you met him for the first time? When he was 9?"

"Yeah, right around then. He'd always be on the set of whatever new movie Aaron was on. He'd become a little terror. He was always getting into fights."

"What makes you say that?"

"He'd have all these scars and bruises and Aaron would just say he was getting into fights. Apparently the kids at school liked to give him a hard time about his dad."

Veronica's eyes narrowed. Logan had been being abused since he was 9?! So this wasn't something recent. This had went on for years and years now. God, even when she had first met him 5 years ago, he had endured abuse. She had seen some bruises before but she never would have guessed that they came from his dad. She had the same thought as Connor: they came from fights. Unfortunately, she was now putting the pieces together. They weren't the scars and bruises from fights at school but from Logan's evil, controlling, manipulative father.

She was mentally scolding herself now. _Come on Veronica! You're a PI for god sake! You have better detective skills than that! Why didn't you see this sooner? How could you be so naïve?_ Veronica closed her eyes in resignation and sighed.

Connor looked over at her, concerned. "Are you OK, Veronica?"

She slowly nodded. "Yeah, fine. Let's get off the subject of Logan for now. Why don't you tell me about you?"

Connor preceded to tell her about himself. He had two sisters and a brother. One of his sisters was older but the other sister and his brother were younger than him. His dad had died of cancer when he was 14 and money had been really tight. He had worked odd jobs helping people out. Then one of his dad's old friends had mentioned something about a commercial looking for a teenage boy so went in. He got the job and decided that he liked it. That was what prompted him to try acting. Since then he had been trying to help his mom raise his younger siblings. One night, Aaron had caught a play he was in and recommended him to the director of his next movie He had been in 5 of the movies that Aaron was in since then.

Connor then asked about her and she gave a brief overview of her life. She touched on Duncan and Logan and spoke a great deal about Lilly.

"Do you ever miss it?"

"Miss what?"

"Your old life, friends."

Veronica sighed. "Sometimes. It's pretty rare though. I will tell you that Lilly's death really helped me weed out who my true friends were and who weren't."

Connor looked like he wanted to go further on the subject but since this was their first date he decided not to push. He instead changed the subject. "So you work for your dad?"

Veronica nodded. "Yeah. He lets me help on some cases. Then there's the cases I get involved in and then he finds out."

"Do that often?" He smirked.

"Every once in awhile." She admitted. "Kind of like with Lilly's case. I'm still trying to figure out who killed her."

"I thought some Abel guy killed her."

"No, Abel Koontz is lying. I've got proof that Lilly's time of death is off by 3 hours."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Does Logan know you're looking into it?"

"No and I have no intention of telling him either. Or Duncan. It's still a very touchy subject with all of us for obvious reasons."

"Obviously."

"I'd appreciate you not mentioning it to them either."

"Don't worry." Connor assured her as he parked the car. "I won't."

"Thank you."

"So do you get any fun cases?"

"Fun?" Veronica raised an eyebrow as Connor had opened the door for her.

"Well, fun's probably the wrong word. I mean, interesting."

"Well, the poker game was fun."

"So will you be honest with me about something?"

"Umm…sure."

"Was that really the first time you played poker?"

"Yep, seriously it was." Veronica grinned as they walked into the restaurant. She was glad she dressed up a little. This was a very swanky place. "I really did give myself a crash course before showing up that night. I knew that by admitting to Duncan and Logan and Sean that I didn't know how to play that they were thinking that they could easily fool me and think I couldn't win. I wasn't prepared to let them do that."

"You fooled me."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't have guessed you hadn't played at all."

"Well, thanks."

They were quickly seated in a secluded section of the restaurant. Most of the patrons looked to be at least 10-15 years older than Veronica but the atmosphere was still comfortable.

"So any other really interesting cases?"

"Well, there was a time not that long ago that I had a bunch of kids come up to me and ask me to help them to get dirt on their parents."

"You helped kids blackmail their parents?" Connor raised a concerned eyebrow which surprised Veronica a little.

"Well, sort of." Veronica shrugged. "They came to me when they had issues with their parents being super strict with them. They just wanted the information to remind them that they were young and stupid too. Besides, they did have to pay me for it which none of them had a problem doing."

Connor just nodded.

"The case that I found extremely amusing though was giving Logan a wake-up call that his slutty girlfriend was cheating on him." Veronica smirked behind her menu.

"Really? Who's that?"

"Caitlin Ford."

"Oh." Connor groaned. "Yeah, I remember her."

"Yeah, it was a part of a whole elaborate scheme but long story short, Logan found out that Caitlin was cheating on him with one of Weevil's friends."

"I bet that went over well." He commented.

"Yeah, real well."

After they had gotten their orders placed and their drinks delivered, Veronica finally had the verve to ask him. "Will you be honest with me about something, Connor?"

"Sure."

"How much did my dad scare you?"

"Not really that much."

Veronica gave him a knowing smile then he admitted. "OK so maybe a little."

"Honestly, the looks and everything are just a facade. It's just said to scare you. I know he'd really follow through if things got too out of hand but for the most part it's a lot of bluffing."

"Good to know." He grinned. "So can you answer me something honestly now?"

"Sure."

"Did you agree to this date to piss off Logan?"

"What? No!"

It was then Connor that gave her a knowing smile. "No, I really do like you, Connor. I will admit though that pissing Logan off was an added perk."

Connor laughed.

By the time they were finished with dinner, it was 8:30. The party that Connor took Veronica to was thrown by one of the stars of the movie. Connor kept her close to him the entire time and introduced her to his friends. She went ahead and got herself a glass of punch when she heard someone say. "Hello Veronica."

Veronica froze because she knew that voice. Oh my god, it was Logan's dad. She was doing her best not to panic. She was failing miserably though. She slowly turned around and gave a nervous smile "Hi Mr. Echolls. Umm…Merry Christmas."

"Same to you." Aaron kept his tone even but there was some chilling in his gaze on her. "I see you came with Connor."

"I did." She nodded. "We actually met at your house during your Christmas party. I…uh…beat all the boys at poker that night." She admitted and surprisingly Aaron chuckled.

"Good for you. Listen have you seen my son today?"

Veronica stared at him bewildered. "Today? Uh…no, I haven't. I came by your house yesterday to pick up my winnings from the game then headed to get dad's Christmas present."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Logan wasn't too happy to hear about the date I made with Connor."

"Logan is just jealous because Connor is actually making something of himself whereas he has nothing better to do than drink, get high and play video games."

Veronica bit her lip then jumped as she felt an arm wrap around her waist. "Am I interrupting something?" Connor asked as he looked between Aaron and Veronica.

"No, not at all, Connor. I just haven't seen Logan all day and wondered whether or not Veronica had seen him."

"Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to steal her away and introduce to her to some more friends. Would you excuse us, Aaron?"

"Of course." Aaron nodded. "Have a Merry Christmas, Veronica."

"You too, Mr. Echolls." Veronica gave an uneasy smile as she was led away with Connor.

"You OK?"

"I think so." She grabbed his hand and led him to secluded part of the room. "You didn't say anything…" She whispered.

"No, of course not." He looked over his shoulder. "Why?"

"There's just something about him that scares the crap out of me."

"Nah, he's a lot of talk but he'd never really hurt anyone."

_Yeah, except his own son._ "Connor, I need to use the restroom. Can you tell me where it is?"

"Sure it's down the hall, second door on the right." He glanced at her expression which looked she was about to be sick. "You OK, Veronica?"

"Yeah, sure. I just need a minute."

"OK. I'll be right here."

Veronica nodded then headed to the bathroom and quickly locked the door. She dug out her phone from her purse. The first thing she took note of was the time. It was just after 10:30. Then she punched in Logan's number. She waited impatiently through four rings and Logan never picked up. Damn it! Now she was worried.

"_This is Logan with today's inspirational message: Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.-Gandhi. Leave a message."_

"Logan…" Veronica hissed under her breath. "Where the hell are you? I need you to call me and tell me where you are. Your dad…" She panted. "Your dad is in town and looking for you. I'm serious, Logan." Veronica's voice could have passed for desperation. "I mean it. Call me. I'm…I'm worried." She hung up then exited the bathroom. She glanced out, peeking out of the bathroom before exiting. OK, good no one really around. She quickly made her way back to Connor and was chatting with his friends. Of course before they left the party, they had found themselves under the mistletoe and Connor's friends were teasing him playfully about kissing Veronica. He finally did and it lasted a good three seconds. Oh yes, they were an excellent three seconds actually. If Veronica would have had her way it would have lasted a lot longer than just three seconds.

Connor got Veronica home actually early at 11:45. He was trying to earn some points with her dad. Connor opened the passenger door and walked Veronica back to her apartment. "Well, thanks for an interesting night, Connor." She told him as they arrived at her front door.

"You seem surprised." He said with a grin.

She smiled sheepishly. "OK, maybe a little."

He chuckled. "Why?"

Veronica shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I had a different picture of you in my head."

Connor smirked. "Is that a compliment?"

She was quick to respond. "Yes, yes. Of course it was. I'm sorry. It's just stereotypical. When I tend to think of actors, I tend to think of guys who are narcissistic and egomaniacs. Someone like…"

"Aaron." He filled in for her. His mouth dropped open at his admission and Veronica laughed. "Oh god. I shouldn't have said that."

"No, you shouldn't have but it's true anyway. He was who I was thinking of." She smiled at him.

"So can I ask you something?"

"Sure." She nodded.

"You said how Logan's been an ass to you ever since Duncan's sister died."

"Yeah." Veronica nodded again. "Yeah, that's true."

"So why would you bother helping him go see his mom?"

She sighed. "A couple different reasons. The obvious one is that it is Christmas. I was trying to do a nice thing. And two, I've always liked Logan's mom and I thought it was wrong of Aaron to keep him away from her. Especially after Logan donated his blood to her."

"I'm still shocked that he did that."

"Honestly? I'm not."

"Really?" Connor seemed surprised by her answer.

"Yeah. I've known Logan for about 5 years now. There's nothing that he wouldn't do for his mom. When the chips are down and Logan has to pick a side between his parents, he'll choose Lynn every time."

Connor cracked a smile.

"He's loyal to her. I know he loves her a lot."

"You know, Veronica, with the way you're talking you seem to take a real interest in Logan's family situation."

Veronica's mind flitted back to the day before.

_"I can't leave her with him." He told her quietly. "He'd kill her." He revealed darkly. "I have no doubt about that. The main reason he hasn't is because of me. I know it is."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"He knows if he kills her…that I'll kill him."_

"What?" Connor stared at her. "What is it?"

"It's nothing. Yeah, you could say some recent events have made me a little more…" She hesitated using the word worried. "curious."

"It sounds like you're not the one harboring bad feelings here."

Veronica sighed again. "There are days. There are days when I get to see glimpses of the guy I used to know. He's still in there somewhere." She confessed as she cracked a smile. "Then there's days he's a huge obligatory jackass. That's what he is most days."

"So…umm…can I see you again sometime?"

"Really?" Veronica raised an eyebrow. "You still want to, given my dad?"

"He's not really all that scary." Connor admitted. "I have actually met worse."

Veronica looked over her shoulder and saw her dad peeking through the blinds. She scowled and shooed him away. Keith reluctantly left. "Umm…sure. That would be great."

"OK." He grinned his million dollar grin at her. "I'll call you tomorrow?"

She nodded. "Sounds great."

"Goodnight Veronica."

"Goodnight Connor."

He leaned down and kissed her softly then. This kiss she made worth it. She came up for air after about 30 seconds.

"Wow!" She blurted out and Connor chuckled. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She smiled as she headed inside. She was about to turn the handle to go inside when she heard, "Veronica."

She jumped slightly as she glanced over by the bushes. She could see an outline of someone. "Logan?"

"Veronica…" His voice was strained.

"Logan, where the hell have you been? I called you like an hour ago!" She hissed.

"I know."

"Do you plan on coming out of the shadows any time here?"

He didn't step very far into the light. He didn't have to for Veronica to see that he was bloody and bruised. She let a gasp before she could catch herself. Her dad then opened the door and Logan disappeared into the shadows again before Keith could see him.

"Veronica…"

"Yeah, dad?"

"What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing. I just…Sarah's dog Killer is down here. He must have gotten out. I'll be right back. I'm going to go take him back to her, OK?"

"OK. Five minutes."

"Right." She nodded. As soon as he went back inside, Veronica hurried over to the bushes where Logan was hiding.

"What the hell happened?" She whispered. "No, never mind. Here." She dug in her purse and pulled out her car key.

"What is this for?" Logan took it and examined it.

"My car is not in plain view of our apartment currently. Go sit in there. Give my dad some time to fall asleep and then I'll come back out and get you and bring you inside."

"Veronica, if your dad finds out…"

"If he finds out what? That your dad is beating you? Finds you in my bedroom? Either way he won't be happy I'm sure but it's a risk I'm willing to take right now. Just go and wait. I'll send you a text message when he goes to sleep then I'll sneak you in."

Logan stared at the key.

"Go. I'll text you when the coast is clear."

"OK." Logan took off to her car and Veronica spun back on her heels and headed into her apartment. Her dad was by the sink. "Sorry dad. I just didn't want Killer out roaming around now especially since it's so late. I wasn't sure whether or not Sarah knew he was."

"And did she?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No apparently not. She was happy I found him though."

"So how was your date?"

"Good. Good." Veronica nodded and her dad gave her a knowing look.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What, did you find something incriminating about him in the background check you ran on him?"

"I haven't run a background check on him yet." Keith informed her.

"Thank you." Veronica told him. "I would like to think I'm right as far as him being a good guy."

"You really think he is?"

"Did he not get me home 15 minutes early?"

Keith shrugged. "OK, that's true." He kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, honey. Don't stay up too much longer, OK?"

"I won't be. Goodnight dad." She smiled.

Keith then headed into his room and shut the door. OK, step 1 is done. She would give him 20 minutes to be on the safe side. She sat down on the couch and read a magazine. At 12:25 she sent a text message to Logan tell him that she thought that the coast was clear and to come up to the door. She also told him to lock the door to her car.

"I don't get why I had to lock your car." She could hear his voice from outside. "It's not like anyone is going to steal it."

"Oh shut up, Logan." She grumbled as she stood at the partially open door and bit her lip to stop herself from gasping when he entered. Oh god, she could now tell why he was hiding in the shadows. In light, he looked like hell. He had a black eye and his knuckles were bloody and bruised. Apparently Logan tried to fight back. There was a blood stain on his t-shirt.

Veronica put her finger to her lips to signal to be quiet. She then locked the front door and shut off the lights in the living room and guided Logan to her bedroom. She quietly shut the door behind her. She shut the light off and went over and turned the light on her nightstand on. It projected less light under the door so her dad wouldn't suspect anything. Veronica had, at times, fell asleep with that light on.

"Come here." She whispered as they went in the bathroom together. She turned that light on to get a better view. "Oh god Logan."

He winced when she touched the bruise on his cheek.

"What the hell happened? Didn't you get my message?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Why didn't you call me back?"

"Because he had already found me by the time you left that message."

"What do you mean? He said…"

"Come on Veronica!" His voice was louder than he meant it to be. She made a shh sound to remind him to be quiet. "You're not that naïve."

She stared at him confused.

"Don't you get it? He lied! Everything out of his fucking mouth is a lie! He was playing you."

Veronica felt stupid and smart at the same time. Stupid for the fact that she believed Aaron when he asked about Logan and wondered about him and she also felt smart that she didn't give him any more information than she did.

"How did he get back here so soon?" Veronica asked. "It's a long trip to Australia."

"He never made it there." He told her. "About 20 minutes after we left the hospital, he apparently got a call from the hospital about visitors to my mom's room. When I got home, his car was in the driveway so I decided to head to Duncan's. I…tried to stay away as long as I could but last night, when I got back from Duncan's, he was waiting for me. Last night was his belt, today was his fist."

"Oh God." Veronica ran her fingers through her hair. She was nervous but she knew what she had to do."Let me see."

"What?"

"Let me see." She repeated. "Take your shirt off and let me see your back."

Logan was very reluctant to do this but Veronica's concerned look is what made him do it. He went ahead and removed it and Veronica held back her tears. There were dozens of belt marks on his back. Some of them fresh, a lot of them scars from beatings past. She sighed in resignation. Why had she never noticed the fact that Logan never took off his shirt off?

Veronica sniffled and Logan groaned. "Please tell me you're not crying."

"No, no." She dried her tears. "We should put some Neosporin on them." She told him as she reached in her medicine cabinet and pulled out a tube of it and got the band-aids out too.

"Veronica you really don't have to…"

"Shut up." She told him. "You need something on these. Hold still."

She went to work dabbing the ointment on and putting the band-aid on each one for tonight. She knew more than likely they would only be on tonight but that was good enough for her for now. Ten minutes later, she was finished and had him put his shirt back on.

"OK get out."

Logan blinked.

Veronica groaned. "I just meant out of the bathroom. I need to change into my pajamas, OK?"

Logan nodded, pondering just what kind of pajamas she wore to bed. He himself wasn't big on pajamas. She came back out a few minutes later wearing blue snowmen flannel pajamas. Logan smirked.

"Really? That's what you wear to bed?"

"Oh shut up! They're nice and warm."

Logan looked at the floor then. "So…how was your date?"

"It was good actually."

"Good huh?"

"Yes, good." She repeated. "It…it was nice."

"Nice?"

"Quit repeating the words. What is the big deal, Logan? He's a nice guy. I know you can't stand him but I actually like him."

"So are you going to see him again?"

"You know the answer to that." She reminded him. "Something tells me you heard that conversation when we were by the door."

"Yeah, I actually heard all of it."

"And what does that mean? You mean, you heard my comments about you?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"And do you really believe that?"

Veronica was confused. "Really believe what? The loyalty to your mother or that somewhere buried under that jackass persona you show to the whole school, the guy I used be friends with still exists?"

"Both."

"Yeah, I do really believe both. I have no doubt about you and your mom. I really want to believe the person you used to be is still there."

Logan cracked a smile.

"Now answer me something."

"What?"

"I've known you for 5 years, Logan. How could you never tell me this was happening?"

"It hasn't been…"

"Don't try and tell me that this just started especially after looking at those scars. I know it hasn't. Connor confirmed that for me."

"WHAT?" His voice rose and Veronica glared at him.

"He doesn't know what he told me, Logan. I never mentioned any of this to him but he told me that he's known you since you were 9 and how you often came to your dad's movie set bruises and stuff. He said your dad told him you were getting into fights at school because of him."

Logan was quiet. He couldn't meet her gaze.

"Does Duncan…"

"No." He abruptly shook his head.

"Did Lilly…"

"NO!" He snapped.

"Seriously, Lilly never knew? Logan, I know that you two had slept together."

"Yeah so?"

"So you're telling me in the entire time she had never seen your back?"

"She had never gotten a good view. Sure she may have seen a couple of them but I told her they were from fights at school."

"I don't get it. We were friends for so long, Logan. Why would you keep this a secret from us?"

"Because…I didn't think you would believe me."

"Oh come on now Logan."

"It's true Veronica. My dad…" He paused as he rose and started to pace the room. "My dad has this mesmerizing quality about him. He can convince anyone of anything."

"Not really sure about that."

"Oh really? He had you convinced that he hadn't found me. He had Connor convinced that all of these scars are fights from school. He has my mother convinced that he still loves her which is a bunch of bullshit."

OK there were very valid points there. "Connor doesn't think your dad could possibly hurt anyone."

"Well, obviously he doesn't know diddley shit."

"Apparently not. OK, I see your point about your dad but Logan we were the ones that knew you best. I just really wish you would have told us."

"And just what would you have done, Veronica? You wouldn't have been able to do anything." He reminded her.

"My dad was sheriff then Logan, remember? He would have believed you. I would have gotten him to."

"You're sweet to say that but my dad has no problem corrupting the legal system. He would have convinced your dad that I was lying."

"Logan…"

"I appreciate the sentiment, Veronica. I do. I don't see how things would have changed." Logan glanced over at the time. It was just after 1:30. "I should go. Dad should be asleep by now."

"No. Just stay."

"What?"

"Logan I'm not going to risk sending you home tonight where your dad can beat your ass again just because he feels like it." She yawned as she rose from her bed to get a pillow and some blankets from her closet. "Look, you can just sleep here. I'll make up the couch."

"Veronica…"

"It's not a big deal, Logan."

"What about your dad?"

"I figure I can sneak you out before he wakes up and he'll never have to know."

"What time does he get up?"

"Around 7."

"OK."

Veronica quietly opened the door and stealthily snuck out to make up the couch. It was 10 minutes later that each of them fell asleep.

The next thing Veronica knew, her dad was waking her up. Her eyes flew open. It was 7:15. Oh god.

"Veronica!" Her dad said in a concerned tone.

"What?" She mumbled as she rubbed her eyes.

"Would you care to explain why Logan Echolls is asleep on our couch?"

* * *

**OK so Keith found Logan. I'm debating how much they'll go into right now with him. A couple things. I realize that Veronica digging up dirt for the other kids actually came from an episode that was the one after the Xmas one but still wanted to include it. Two I don't know if Sarah had officially left after her Girl Next Door episode but it was just what I came up with. Anyway, please review and let me know what you thought. The likelihood is I won't get a chapter out before Xmas so I hope everyone has a Merry Xmas and a Happy 2013!**


	4. Wishful Thinking (aka Truce)

**Nine days...not bad really considering this is the longest chapter of this story so far. Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. Part of mine is still this weekend. OK so I cover quite a bit in this chapter. I really didn't think it would end up this long but I think it needed it. Anyway, thank you for all the reviews. I really appreciate them. I think I got everyone answered this time. Anyway, please review and let me know what you thought after reading it. Hope you like it!**

* * *

Logan got the most unusual wake-up call he had ever had…Veronica's dog Backup was licking his face. He groaned as his eyes opened and noticed how the smiling dog was staring at him. Yeah, he and Backup had always gotten along. He slowly sat up and stretched. His back hurt a little. Veronica's couch was anything but comfortable but then again, he was not about to complain. He'd take sleeping on a lumpy couch any day over worrying whether or not his dad was going to beat the shit out of him. He scratched behind the dog's ears.

He then realized that if Backup was up that must mean that Keith was up too. He slipped on his shoes and quickly peeked around the corner. He could hear Veronica and Keith talking but wasn't able to make out any of their conversation. He gave a final pat to Backup and quietly snuck out the apartment before either of them knew he had left.

A few moments later, Veronica came out of her room with Keith trailing behind her. Veronica stared blankly at the empty couch.

"Where did he go?" Keith asked.

"No idea." Veronica sighed as she heard her phone beep. She rushed back into her room to read the message. She knew it was from Logan. She stared sadly at the

message. _–Not a word, Veronica_

"Veronica, I'm waiting for an explanation." Her dad reminded her.

"I know, dad but really it is something Logan has to tell you."

"Well he's not here and you are."

"Dad, it's complicated. I promised Logan that I wouldn't say anything."

"What are you hiding for him? It's got to be something big otherwise you would be telling me."

"Dad…"

"Does it have something to do with the black eye he had?"

She sighed. "You saw that."

"Yeah, I did."

"OK, look, he got into a fight. I really can't say more than that. It really has to be him who tells you."

"Why are you protecting him, Veronica? We're talking about Logan Echolls here. This is the boy who has treated you so horribly since Lilly died."

"Don't worry; I haven't forgotten." Veronica told him. "Ever since a few nights ago at his house and having his mom get stabbed though, it made me see a few things."

"Like what?" Keith pressed.

"Let's just say that based on what I saw, his attitude towards the whole world makes more sense now and it's not just because of Lilly's murder."

"Veronica…"

"Dad, it's complicated and hard for me to try to explain. Just trust me, I know right from wrong and I won't do anything that's illegal or puts anyone's lives in danger. I'm just trying to be a fri…" Veronica caught herself before she finished the word because Keith's eyebrows shot up in curiosity. "end." She finished.

"Friend? Do you really think Logan deserves someone special like you as a friend after the hell he's put you through in the last year?"

"I don't know." She sighed. "Part of me thinks he's still the psychotic jackass he's been since Lilly died."

"And the other part?"

"The other part, in the past few days, has seen some glimpses of the guy I used to know. With what's happened with his mom, I think that's what made it resurface."

"What makes you so sure that the guy you used to know is really still there and not just a fleeting moment because of what happened to Lynn?"

"I guess I don't. I haven't been much of a dreamer since Lilly died but I like to call it wishful thinking."

"I think you're being naïve."

"I'm not…" She argued as she went into the kitchen to grab some cereal. "There is a whole different side that I never knew existed."

"Honey, what are you talking about?"

"Never mind. Call it sleep deprivation." She told him as she went ahead and poured herself some cereal and took it in with her to her bedroom.

"Veronica we are not done talking about this!" He called after her.

"Fine but you need to realize I can't give you more answers right now. If and when the time is right, I'll convince Logan to tell you. I tried to do it last night but he's not ready. Give me some time, OK?"

Keith sighed. "Fine but if I find you are doing anything illegal…"

"I promise I'm not." She didn't elaborate further and shut her door.

She fell back asleep for another hour after she ate breakfast. She had sent Logan a text message asking where he went but he didn't respond.

At 11 o'clock Connor called and asked her about going out that night. She told him she couldn't though because her dad was mad at her. When Connor asked her why that was she told him that she had to help Logan with a problem the night before and he found out about it. When he asked her if she would elaborate she told him she couldn't more than Logan had a problem that took all night to solve but they did. He fell asleep on her couch. She then bit her lip realizing she shouldn't have told him that and asked him not to say anything. He told her he wouldn't but couldn't understand why. She told him it was too convoluted to explain. He let it drop at that.

It was a rather quiet day at the Mars apartment. Both Veronica and her dad had stuck around there. Veronica was unsure if it was just a coincidence or if it was because Keith was trying to keep an eye on her. She really hated not telling him about what was really going on but it was Logan's situation to talk about.

At 4:30, Veronica told her dad that she was headed down to Dog Beach to take Backup for a walk. Her dad told her she needed to be back by 6. She nodded as she put the collar and leash on the dog. She drove him to Dog Beach and let him off the leash to let him run. Veronica played a game of fetch with him as she made her way down the beach.

Backup had been running back to her when she squinted down the beach and saw someone sitting in the sand, just staring off into the horizon. She tossed Backup's toy one last time but this time instead of bringing the toy back, he headed further towards the person sitting on the beach and dove on them.

"Backup!" She yelled as she ran as fast as she could towards him. As she got closer though, she realized that the dog wasn't trying to maul anyone; he just recognized the person. She picked up his toy and made her way to where her dog was licking Logan's face.

She sighed as she shook her head.

"Your dog apparently loves me." Logan told her as she hooked his leash back onto the collar.

"I'll have to have a talk with him about that." Veronica sank onto the sand beside Logan.

"Is that such a bad thing?" He glanced over at her as he rubbed Backup's belly who was lying in between them.

She stared at him for a moment as she pet her dog. Logan's black eye had faded some but it was still visible. His bloody knuckles from last night were now scabbed over. "No, it's not." She whispered as she turned her attention back to the ocean. "So why didn't you tell me where you were?"

"Because I wasn't sure if it was you texting or your dad using your phone."

"My dad doesn't text." She told him.

"Did you tell him?" He asked as he stared at the ocean.

"Of course I didn't tell my dad, Logan. You told me I couldn't."

"Since when do you listen to me?"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Nothing."

"No, you don't get to pull that crap with me, Logan. What did that mean?"

"You don't listen any other time when I give you warnings."

"Such as?"

"Your boyfriend."

Veronica groaned. "First of all, that is none of your business. Second, one date does not make him my boyfriend. I barely know him."

"That's right; you barely know him."

"You have no right to judge whatever this is with Connor."

"I know him a hell of a lot better than you do. You're going to get hurt, Veronica."

"And you'll just be laughing your ass off at me when it happens." She reminded him.

"No, I won't."

"Yeah, right."

"You'll get a big fat 'I told you so' but I won't be laughing."

"You've done it all year long, Logan. Why should I think any different now?"

"Because you had the opportunity to laugh your ass off at me when you found out about my dad and you didn't."

"I would never laugh at you being abused, Logan. You know me better than that."

"True but I can also see you thinking that I may be did something to deserve it."

"Logan!" Veronica gasped. "I would never think that. I've been around the legal world long enough to know that. I just…" She paused to think of how to describe what

she was thinking. "It just floors me to think I didn't notice this sooner."

"I'm very enigmatic that way." Logan smirked.

"Obviously." Veronica commented. "No, he doesn't know the whole story but he knows something is up. I did tell him you got into a fight…"

Logan's eyes darted over to her.

"I had to. He saw your black eye but I didn't mention what had happened with your dad."

They stared at the ocean. "Here's the thing though. I can't lie to him forever. I told him it was up to you to tell him. I'd try to convince you it would be a good thing to do

but it had to be on your timetable."

"Why don't you get that I can't tell him?"

"Explain something to me, Logan. Why did you come to me for help if you don't want it?"

"Because you know the truth about what's going on."

"Still, I'm the person you hate the most. You've dealt with this for so long without any help from anyone."

"I don't hate you the most."

"I'm the person you hate the most after your dad."

"That's still not you."

"Really? So who's that?"

Logan was eerily quiet; that kind of scared Veronica.

"Who, Logan?"

"Lilly."

Veronica thought her ears were deceiving her. "Yeah, right."

"I'm serious, Veronica." He took a long pause. "I…I knew she was cheating on me when I left for TJ the day before she was killed."

"Lilly wouldn't…"

"Cut the naïve crap, Veronica! She was not this goddamn angel you're idolizing her as being!" Logan barked. "Yes, she would and yes, she did. I have the proof."

"How? Who?"

"How, from her directly. As for the who, it was one of the PCH'ers." He ran a hand through his hair. "I heard a conversation between Weevil and one of them a couple

days before she died. I confronted her. She denied it at first but she ultimately admitted that she slept with this guy."

Veronica watched his expression. It was somewhere between sad and irate. "What?" She asked, confused.

"He wasn't the only one apparently."

"Logan…"

"I had a hard time stomaching that news so when Dick brought up TJ, I jumped at the chance. I needed to get away from her and just here in general."

"Why are you bringing this up now?"

"I'm trying to…I don't know."

Veronica laid her head on her knees.

"I wanted to tell you…I don't really hate you."

"Now it's your turn to cut the crap, Logan. You're lying and you know it." She glared at him coldly. "You have made the last year as miserable as possible for me just for your amusement."

"I was testing you." He rationalized.

"Testing me." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah, I wanted to see if turning everyone against you would change you."

"Mission accomplished." She retorted. "You succeeded in that plan. You knew damn well when you gave me that ultimatum Logan that I wasn't going to choose you. You just wanted the easiest way to kick me out."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is."

"Duncan's dad is like…"

"Like what? A father to you?" Veronica guessed.

"Yeah."

"Let's get something straight. Jake Kane is no saint either. I know stuff about him that you wouldn't believe."

"Like what?"

"Like…we're not to that point yet. We're not friends yet. We have a ways to go before we would ever get back there."

"Veronica…"

"You admitting that you didn't hate me and why you did what you did may have helped a little but I'm not automatically going to forgive you just because you said it."

Logan looked down at the sand.

"I'd really like us to get back to being friends, Logan. I want that. I do. I like the fact you trust me to help you with this considering Duncan is your best friend and he had no clue."

He glanced up at her then.

"I have to know though. Is what I told Connor last night true? Is the old Logan that I was best friends with still in there somewhere?"

"The old Logan?" He repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, the old you who I kidded around with and went to parties with. The guy I played 'truth or dare' and 'I never' with and the guy who would just offer advice when I needed it. That you. Is he still in there somewhere?"

Logan was quiet. Wow! What a tall order. He didn't realize just how much of a confidante he was to her. It took him roughly 15 seconds to answer. "Yeah. Yeah, of course."

She didn't say anything but he could tell what she was thinking by her body language. She seemed to relax more.

"Is the old Veronica in there?"

"No, the old Veronica is dead." She told him bluntly which made him frown. "The old naïve Veronica is long gone."

"I didn't mean naïve Veronica."

"Then what version are you talking about?"

"The one I was best friends with. I think she's still in there somewhere too." Logan told her as he looked down and saw that Backup was asleep. "You see, I saw a glimpse of her a couple days ago when she helped me see my mom…"

"Yeah, it failed miserably though and you still got the beating of your life."

"That wasn't your fault, Veronica." He told her. "It worked. Too well actually but someone at the hospital ratted me out. That's the only thing I can come up with."

Veronica bit her lip. They were so cleverly disguised. She didn't even recognize Logan with that wig on. Her heart sank then. God, it was Connor then. It had to be him. She knew he had told her that he didn't do it. She would like to believe it was true but she had this nagging feeling he could have told Aaron. Oh god. He knew that Logan had stayed the night at her apartment too. What if Connor was telling everything she told him to Aaron? She slowly exhaled. OK, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. She had no proof of that.

"Are you OK?" Logan took note of her crestfallen expression.

"Yeah, fine. You were saying…"

"Yeah so she helped me out when I needed her and plus I got to hear her do another impression of my whiny, annoying sister."

Veronica smiled. "That was fun."

Logan laughed. "Yeah, it was. I'd like to believe she's in there too. The girl who was the only one who could eat more ice cream than me or beat me at video games…"

"Any game in general actually including Texas Hold 'Em."

"OK true. The one I partied with and told all my secrets to."

"Apparently not all of them."

"Apparently so." Logan reminded her.

She looked confused for a moment then she nodded. "I guess so even if it did come 5 years late."

"Regardless you still know. Do I wish I admitted this sooner? Yeah, maybe. Maybe things would have been different. We can't go back though."

"No, we can't." She whispered. She glanced at her watch then. She had 15 minutes before she had to be home. "Where are we, Logan?"

He looked at her like she just asked the stupidest question ever. She groaned. "I meant, where are we? In the grander scheme of things."

Logan sighed. He didn't know what to say for sure. If you had asked him a week ago where he would be right now sitting on the beach having a pleasant…ok that was an exaggeration. A civil conversation with Veronica Mars he would have told you that you were out of your mind. Having this conversation tonight…even though it was hard to hear at times made Logan realize something. He missed her. He never realized just how much until he heard her list the things that she liked about him. The things that made him her best friend. Sure he had missed her before that. He watched her constantly but he would never own up to that.

He had never been happy that he made her choose but he had to stick up for Duncan. He was his best friend first and Jake was like a father to him. Like an actual father who knows better than to beat his son. In a way he felt like by doing this he was somehow defending Lilly's honor or memory in the process. In reality he knew that if Lilly was alive and she knew what he was doing to Veronica, she would be beyond pissed off at him. She would remind him that Veronica was not Keith. He would imagine that she would call him a few colorful names too.

"Truce." Logan finally said.

"A truce?" Veronica raised a curious eyebrow.

"We have to start somewhere." He shrugged.

"So is this just a truce between you and me or…"

"I'll get everyone to back off."

"Seriously."

"Yeah, seriously. Look, I'm having a party tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night is Christmas Eve." Veronica reminded him.

"I'm aware of that. I want you to come."

"Yeah, like that's going to happen. That's like walking into the Lion's Den."

"Why are you backing down now? You haven't all year."

Veronica flashed back to the last 09er party she crashed. It did not end well. She woke up naked in bed with no real clue from the night before. Memories of that night were still fuzzy at best. "I have my reasons."

"Look, I know for a fact that Meg is coming. Come with her."

"Logan, I don't know."

"Veronica, I'll…I'll make them behave. Besides, the other part I remember about my old best friend is that she never backed down."

Veronica smiled to herself.

"No matter what kind of a challenge Lilly threw at her, she was up for it."

"Yeah, OK. That's true."

"So?"

"So…what time?"

"Nine."

"Where?"

"Here." He looked around. "Maybe a little further up though."

"OK." Veronica nodded as she looked at the time. She had 5 minutes before she had to be home. She rose and pulled on the leash which then woke up Backup. She let him off his leash one last time to go to the bathroom. The dog came back a couple minutes later. "I need to go. Dad wanted me home by 6."

"You'd better fly then cause you have like 2 minutes."

"Yeah, I know. So…any theme I need to be aware of since this is more than likely a Christmas party?"

"Not really. I'm not really one of those party theme people though."

"OK, need to go." She put Backup back on the leash. "Bye Logan."

"See ya Veronica." He cracked a smile as she left.

Veronica made it home at 6:02.

"You're late."

Veronica groaned. "By 2 minutes. Come on."

"What were you doing?"

"I told you. I took Backup for his walk or maybe I should say run."

"Really? That's all?"

Veronica sighed. That of course meant that he followed her and knew she was with Logan. "OK so when I got there, I found out that Logan was there."

"Veronica…"

"I promise I had no idea he was going to be there." Her dad gave her a stern look. "Seriously!" She exclaimed. "I'll show you the text message I sent him that went unanswered. I really did only go to take Backup on his walk."

"You talked for a long time." Again, it was a statement not a question.

"We…had a lot to talk about." Veronica told him quietly as she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

"About what?" Her dad asked. She glanced over at him. She gave him a sad smile.

"About the past…about the future." She took a drink from the bottle.

"And…"

"And we're calling a truce." She told him and Keith's eyes grew wide.

"You're forgiving him for everything?"

"No!" She told him adamantly. "No and I told him that it wasn't going to be that easy just because he explained to me why he did what he did. He knows that. But…we're going to stop these stupid games to see who can hurt who worse."

"Veronica I really don't like this path that you're going down. I'm scared for you."

"Don't be." She sighed. "I know you think I'm naïve and stupid but I'm doing this with my eyes wide open. I know what I'm doing."

"I'm still worried."

"I know you are. You're an overly concerned parent but I'm very capable and I definitely know how to handle teenage boys." She pulled her taser out of her bag. "Anyone crosses the line, they'll get a visit from Sparky here."

Keith stifled a laugh. "OK."

"OK so that now leads me to tomorrow."

"What about tomorrow?"

"Well, I know it's Christmas Eve and everything…"

"Veronica, just ask me."

"Well, I got invited to a party tomorrow night and I was kind of wanting to go."

"And just who is throwing the party?"

Veronica sighed and Keith immediately said no.

"Dad, I'd be going with Meg. You remember Meg, right?"

"Yes, I remember Meg."

"Well, then. I'll stick by her."

"Veronica I really don't think it's smart."

"I know you don't but Meg and I will be there together so you really don't need to worry. Like I said, I plan on carrying." She flipped the taser on. "My little friend here."

Keith sighed. He was losing. He had to remember this was his very responsible, level-headed daughter. She rarely made bad choices. Of course there was the time she didn't listen and went up to the Half Moon Collective when she wasn't supposed to. Or that Homecoming incident when Lilly was still alive and they had the limo party and stayed out all night but overall, he knew his daughter was a good kid. "OK, Veronica. But I need to know when Meg's curfew is I know when to expect you home."

"OK. I'll call her and find out."

Meg was thrilled to hear that Veronica was coming to the party. "See what did I tell you? Did I not tell you that you still had friends among the 09er group?"

"Whoa, whoa, Meg." Veronica quickly protested. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Friends is still a stretch."

"Believe what you want, Veronica. You know deep down that you still have friends among the group."

"Yeah, I do and I've always known it." She told her truthfully. "You've been the only true 09er friend I've had through the last year."

"Veronica…"

"So, my dad wanted me to check and see what time your curfew was."

"Oh, it's 12:30."

"It's 12:30, dad." Veronica looked over her shoulder at her dad.

"OK, fine. No longer than 12:30 then."

"Do you want me to pick you up or did you want to drive?"

"Either way."

"I'll pick you up at quarter after 9."

"Sounds good. Bye Meg."

"Bye Veronica."

That night, Veronica laid awake in bed. She wondered what Logan was doing right now. On a general level she didn't care that much but as far as his home situation goes, she did. She hoped he would survive the night without getting some sort of torture from his dad. His mom was home now so hopefully she could act as a buffer for him. Given the fact that Aaron still beat his son after all these years though, she didn't think Lynn would be able to be much help.

It was just after 9:15 when Meg arrived at Veronica's front door. Her dad had answered it and talked to Meg while Veronica finished getting ready.

"Meg, I'm still concerned about this party. The kids that are going to be there have been treating my daughter horribly this past year."

"I understand Mr. Mars but you don't have to worry. I'll be there to help her out if anyone gives her a hard time."

"Dad." Veronica made her way down the hallway. "For the hundredth time, if anyone gives me any crap, they'll just become better acquainted with Sparky." She produced the taser again. Meg stifled a laugh while Keith smirked.

"OK. Fine, honey. I'll drop it now."

"Thank you." She gave her dad a hug. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, honey." He cracked a smile. "Drive safe."

Meg smiled. "Will do."

They left the apartment and Meg looked between Veronica and the apartment door. "What's going on? Your dad seemed exceptionally worried about this party."

"It's a long story." Was all Veronica said as she got into Meg's car.

When they arrived at the party, there were already dozens of people…and they all took notice when she arrived. Logan glanced over at her and met her gaze. He cracked a smile before he turned his attention back to Dick and Cassidy. Dick was telling Logan a story about his latest surfing trip to TJ and the hot girl he met while he was there.

Dick then glanced over to see what had Logan's attention. "Oh god. Who the hell invited Veronica Mars to this party?"

"I did." Logan told him, his eyes never leaving her.

Dick laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah, right. Who really did?"

He finally looked over at Dick. "I. did." He said succinctly.

"As some sort of joke on her or what?"

"No, Dick. No joke. Leave her alone."

"Have you gone crazy, Logan?" Cassidy asked.

"No, I haven't. We…uh…called a truce."

"Are you fucking insane?" Dick exclaimed.

"No, I'm not and I really don't appreciate you thinking that I am." Logan scowled at him. "I have my reasons."

"Did you sleep with her?"

Logan's head whipped around so fast to stare at him. "Are you fucking insane, Dick? Of course I didn't sleep with her. Why is it so hard to believe that I could call a truce with her?"

"Because you've made her life a living hell for the last year." Cassidy reminded him.

"Yeah, well, like I said, I have my reasons."

"Yeah, let's hear 'em."

"I'm not sharing." Logan told him bluntly.

"Why not?"

"Because it's none of your business." Veronica chimed in from behind Dick. They all flipped around to look at her.

"Well, well Ronnie." Dick smirked. "Surprised to see you here. Don't try and make out with me this time, OK?"

Logan stared at her confused.

"Watch it, Dick." She grabbed her taser. "See the difference between this party and Shelly Pomeroy's party is that at this party is I have my little electrical friend with me." She turned it on. "How would you like 50,000 volts coursing through your body?"

Dick instinctively backed up. "Umm…hey. I was just kidding with you, Ronnie. Honest."

"Sure you were. As for why Logan and I struck a truce, you're not going to get the reason out of either of us so it would be wise to just drop it."

Dick glanced over at Logan for confirmation. "She's right." Logan then noticed how the party stopped and everyone was staring at them. Most of the people had shocked expressions. "Now go and tell the masses there's a truce in place and no one is to bother Veronica. Got me?"

"OK, whatever dude." Dick reluctantly left with Beaver trailing behind him. They went to spread the word and most people weren't happy about it. They loved the fact

that Veronica was an outcast. There were a few though, Duncan, Meg and Casey Gant, that appeared to be happy about the news.

"So you OK?"

Veronica nodded as she turned off her taser and put it back in her purse. "I'm great."

Logan hesitated asking this but he couldn't help himself. "You're not really planning on tasering anyone, are you?"

"If they piss me off enough I will." Veronica reached in and pulled out a can of Sunkist. Logan stared at her. "OK so what don't you have in that purse?"

Veronica smirked as she popped it open and took a drink. "The kitchen sink."

Logan chuckled and pretty much everyone's eyes went wide in disbelief. Logan Echolls laughing at one of Veronica Mars' jokes? Oh hell has surely frozen over.

Veronica stared at everyone as she drank her Sunkist. "You seriously think this is going to work?"

"It will." Logan confirmed as he drank his beer. "Have some faith, Veronica."

"Wasn't I telling you that a few days ago?"

Logan grinned as Meg and Casey made their way over to them.

"I like seeing this." Meg told them.

"Seeing what?" Logan asked.

"Seeing you two being civil to each other. Almost, dare I say, friendly." Casey told him.

"Oh no, Casey. We're not there." Veronica quickly responded. "Not yet anyway."

"Hopefully we'll get there though." Logan added.

"Good." Meg smiled. "I hope so." She looked down at the sand then. "You know, you two won't ever admit to it, but you both know that you've been miserable without

the other one."

Veronica and Logan shared a look.

"With the way you two were just looking at each other, you know it's true." Casey told them.

Neither one of them commented on that.

By 10:30 almost all of the 09ers had enough alcohol in them that they didn't care that Veronica was there, much less reached a truce with Logan. Then there was

Madison Sinclair who couldn't help but throw death glares at her.

"Got a problem, Madison?" Veronica smiled tightly.

"No just a comment. Logan must be on some serious drugs to ever consider calling a truce with you."

"Keep talking, Madison. Please. Give me a reason to use my taser tonight. I'd love to see you writhing in pain."

"You wouldn't dare."

She produced the taser and flipped it on, which showed the blue crackle to let her know it was on. "Try me."

The boys then stepped into intervene. Logan pulled Veronica back and Dick pulled Madison away.

"You stupid bitch!" Madison screamed at her.

"Oh yeah? Well, you're a fucking whore Madison! Why don't you finally own up to sleeping with half the football team behind Dick's back?" Veronica screamed back.

Dick's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"She's lying!"

"Oh give me a break. I've got witnesses to this."

"Like who?" Dick demanded.

Veronica scanned the crowd. Meg was one that stepped forward. Queen of Gossip Carrie Bishop stepped forward along with a couple others.

The look on Dick's face was one for the books. "Why the hell didn't any of you tell me?" He screamed.

"Well, Madison paid us $1,000 each to keep quiet." Meg admitted.

"Of course for me, she had to give me 5." Carrie smiled sweetly at Madison who looked like she was going to be sick. "I wasn't going to keep quiet for just $1,000."

"Bet you wished that you had let me taser her now, don't ya Dick?" Veronica remarked as she flipped it off again.

"Madison, I think it's time you left." Logan told her as he let his grasp on Veronica go.

"You can't banish me, Logan! I'm not going willingly." Madison spat.

Logan sighed as he nodded to Casey, John Enbom, and a couple others who escorted her off the beach. He then told everyone. "Come on! This is a party! Party!"

Everyone went back to what they were doing. Logan then looked back at Veronica. "How long have you known about Madison?"

"For awhile." Veronica told him.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Why would I be nice to the people who openly loathed me?" Veronica told him.

"Infidelity, among other things like drugs and alcohol, runs rapid through the 09er veins."

Logan smirked at the comment. "Apparently so. Apparently no one has the ability to be faithful anymore."

"Not true." She told him quietly. She glanced around and noticed they were the only ones by his X-terra then cleared her throat. "So…everything OK at home?"

"Depends on your definition of OK." Logan shrugged. "Nothing happened last night but then again, dad is on location for a week in Vegas so that would be why."

"But your mom's home now, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she's supposed to take it easy for a few more days. Mrs. Navarro is at the house helping her out."

"That's good." Veronica paused for a moment. "Did they wonder where you were yesterday?"

"You mean when I had stayed at your apartment?"

She nodded.

"Dad had left already when I had gotten home. I sent mom a message letting her know that I crashed at Duncan's the night before and then decided to go to the

beach."

"She didn't question that?"

"Nope."

Veronica nodded."Good. That's good."

"So…I take it you told your dad I was throwing this party."

"No way around it."

"And he let you come?"

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"Well, I didn't know if you were going to have to sneak out or not."

"Nope."

"So what sold him on letting you come?"

"Meg."

Logan grinned. Yeah, he wasn't surprised by that.

"Her and of course, my little friend here." She put the taser back in her purse.

"You love threatening people with that thing, don't you?" He smirked.

"I trust very few people in this crowd, Logan."

"Do you trust me?"

Veronica stared at him. "No, not completely." She admitted as she looked away. "But I do trust you more than most people here."

"Well, that's something."

"It's big actually." She told him. "Because if you would have asked me that question a week ago, I would have laughed in your face."

"So we're making progress."

"I'd like to think so. It's going to take time, Logan."

"I know."

"Everybody's calmed down at my presence. Do you think it's because they're all drunk?"

Logan laughed. "Could be."

"You think any of them are going to remember this truce tomorrow morning?"

"I'm hoping so. We'll just have to remind them otherwise."

Veronica smiled.

"Hey Veronica?"

Logan and Veronica looked over and saw Duncan approaching them.

"Yeah?" She said.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Umm…sure."

She walked down the beach with Duncan. "What did you need, Duncan?"

"So this truce between you and Logan…this is real?"

"Yeah, Duncan, it's real."

"What happened?"

"We…it's hard to explain, Duncan. After Lynn got stabbed, it made us realize that the whole vendetta thing wasn't worth it. We're not friends yet; we're hoping eventually but right now, we're going to stop purposely hurting each other."

He was quiet.

"Are you mad about this?"

Duncan looked surprised. "Why would I be?"

"Well, you know the reason we were estranged in the first place."

"Well, I know that was more resentment towards your dad I think than anything, Veronica. Logan blamed you and he shouldn't have. It was your dad he had the

problem with, not you."

"He admitted as much a couple nights ago."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's a slow process. Very slow process but we're working on it."

"Good. I am glad to hear it."

"Thanks Duncan."

"Veronica!"

She turned around and saw Meg calling her. She headed back towards her. "Hey, we should go. It's almost curfew time."

"OK." She nodded. "See you later, Duncan."

"Bye Duncan." Meg gave him a quick wave.

"See ya."

The girls almost walked by Logan but Veronica decided to stop. "Hang on." She stood in front of him. "Hey."

"Hey. Everything OK with Duncan?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He was happy to hear about the truce."

"I'm sure he is."

"Listen, I need to go. I'm doing everything in my power to not piss off my dad."

Logan nodded. "No, sure I understand. Thanks for coming."

Veronica smiled. "Well, thanks for inviting me. I actually had fun."

"Really?" He raised an amused eyebrow. "What part in particular?"

"Threatening Madison of course."

Logan died hysterically. Everyone looked back over at him. This time it was amusement at Logan's expression.

"Of course that would be the best part."

"You played a part too."

He nodded.

"Glad to see you were true to your word about this truce."

He smiled.

"Better go."

"See ya Veronica."

Meg and Veronica headed to her apartment. Meg smiled. "You're smiling, Veronica. You must have had fun."

"It had its moments." She commented.

"You think that Logan and you will be friends again?"

"It's wishful thinking, Meg but it does have real possibilities now."

* * *

**Wouldn't that have been great for the opportunity to taser Madison ;) Like I said, I covered A LOT. I kind of took the chicken way out as far as Logan and Keith talking goes. I almost called this chapter Naive based on how many times I said the word in it. I had to look up the voltage for tasers and I found they normally run 50,000 volts. Anyway, hope you liked it. Debating on where I'll pick up. There's not going to be more than 1 or 2 chapters before Connor's gone. I know I had people worried that it was going to turn into something serious but I wouldn't do that. This is a Logan/Veronica story after all. Anyway, hope you liked it. Review please!**


	5. Reality Bites

**Hey! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. It took me some time to figure out how I wanted this chapter to go. It's only a little bit smaller than the last one. I cover quite a bit in this chapter too. This is the Christmas chapter for Veronica and her dad. Yeah, and for Logan and Veronica. I wanted to give a special thanks to SilverLining2k6 who helped me come up with Christmas presents for Logan and Veronica. I appreciate it! The other thing I really appreciate is reviews. They make writing this story worth it so please when you have time, review it and let me know what you thought.**

* * *

Veronica woke up at 10 o'clock on Christmas morning, groggy. She had to jog her memory. _Was the party real last night?_ She then remembered how she threatened to taser Madison and she knew it was real. _That was fun_, she smirked to herself. Actually the party as a whole was fun. She must have been drinking something pretty something strong for her to be able to say that. Oh, yeah she only had Sunkist. Was it really possible to have had fun with the 09er crowd like she did before she was exiled? Perhaps but she wasn't ready to admit just how much fun she had to Logan just yet.

Veronica emerged from her bedroom to find that her dad had made her chocolate chip pancakes and scrambled eggs. "Merry Christmas, honey." He gave her a hug and a kiss.

"Merry Christmas, dad."

"Wallace just called here about half an hour ago. He said something about wanting to give you your present."

"Oh, good. I want to give him the present I got for him too." she glanced at the time. "Do you care if I call him back right now?"

"No. Go ahead."

She had felt guilty because she hadn't talked to Wallace since Christmas vacation started 4 days ago. They talked briefly and agreed to meet at Dog Beach at 12:30.

Veronica and her dad ate breakfast and her dad asked her about the party. Veronica didn't give him too many details; just enough to let him know that the kids were leaving her alone. She also mentioned that Logan was to thank for that. Keith was still skeptical. He remembered what kind of a friend Logan was to her before he exiled her. But then again he also remembered what happened when he did. He didn't know all the details but he knew enough to know that Logan was the ringleader behind Veronica's ostracizing of the group. Since it was Christmas and it did appear that his daughter was happy, Keith decided not to push it.

After breakfast, Veronica and her dad exchanged presents. Keith's jaw nearly hit the floor when he opened his.

"Veronica…" he stared at the information. "Honey, this is way too expensive." he handed the paperwork back to her. "You should take it back and get a refund."

"Two things: one, it's non-refundable and two, I had some extra money to spend."

"And just where did you get this extra money?" he raised a suspicious eyebrow. "This better not be your college money."

"It's not." Veronica confirmed. "It came from the money I won at Logan's poker game."

"Ahh…so that was the sudden fascination with poker."

"That would be it."

"Still honey you didn't need to do this."

"It's Christmas, dad." she reasoned. "This hasn't been the easiest year and you deserve it."

Keith sighed. Again he knew it was a losing battle. "Well thank you honey."

"You're welcome."

Veronica got a brand new computer and a few PI gadgets she had been wanting. Since they had a late breakfast, they didn't worry about lunch. Veronica and Backup headed to Dog Beach a little before 12:30. When they arrived, they noticed that Wallace was already there.

"Hey Supafly." he got off the bonnet of his car.

"Hey Wallace." she smiled at him as she got Backup out of the car. "You haven't been here that long, have you?"

"Naw, just a couple minutes." he looked past her and frowned.

"What?"

"Isn't that Logan's ugly yellow X-terra there?"

Veronica turned around. She sighed. Apparently, it hadn't moved since last night. She put Backup on his leash. "Ah…yeah. Yep, it is."

"I don't get why it's here, though. I mean, I'm not a big fan of the guy but why would he be here instead of at home?"

Veronica shrugged. "He had a party here last night." she admitted.

"You crashed an 09er party?" Wallace raised a curious eyebrow.

She gave an uncomfortable laugh. OK, so this is going to be extremely awkward. "Ahh…no. Actually, I…got invited."

"What?" Wallace's eyes grew wide.

"Yeah." Veronica gave a shy nod as they made their way towards the vehicle.

"Don't tell me you're changing on me, V." Wallace looked worried but Veronica gave a small laugh. "You're not moving to the dark side, are you?"

"No. No of course not." she peeked inside the second row and saw Logan passed out; he was half on the seat, half off the seat. She groaned as she shook her head at the sky. She banged on the lower part of the door which made Logan fly up but in doing so he fell off the seat. Veronica had to bite her lip hard to keep from laughing. It didn't stop Wallace from chuckling though. Logan scowled at their amused expressions.

He groaned as he emerged from the vehicle, scratching his head. "Well, well. If it isn't the annoying pixie in my life." Logan told her sarcastically.

"Yes my irritating jackass it is." Veronica smirked smugly. "You know if this truce stands a chance at surviving…"

"Wait, truce?" Wallace jumped in as he glanced between them. "You have a truce with him?"

"Yeah, we do." Veronica admitted.

"Why the hell would you ever strike a truce with him?"

"And who are you?"

"My friend, Wallace. You should remember him, Logan. After all, he was standing right beside me while you were bashing my headlights in."

"Ahh, yes. Foreplay."

"You're sick to think ruining my headlights would be foreplay." Veronica told him. "Anyway, as I was saying, if this truce stands a chance at surviving, we should probably come up with more neutral nicknames, OK?"

"Fine." he yawned. "So what are you doing here, Mars?"

"Well, Echolls, I was about to ask you the same thing. I'm here because Wallace and I are exchanging presents. It's almost 1 in the afternoon on Christmas day, Logan. Why aren't you at home with your mom?"

Backup started to jump on Logan. "Seriously, your dog loves me."

"We established that a couple days ago. Why don't you answer my question?"

Logan sighed, "Cause by the time the party ended, I was too wasted to drive." he yawned again as he patted Backup. The dog, of course, was eating up this attention.

"And just when did the party end?"

Logan shrugged, "I don't know. Four, 4:30?"

"4:30 in the morning?" Veronica exclaimed. "Geez, Logan. Well, at least you were smart enough not to drive."

Wallace watched the two of them interact and he was beyond puzzled. They appeared to be having a civil conversation. "I don't get it. Are you going to tell me why you're calling a truce with him?"

"No, she's not." Logan took the liberty of answering for her.

"Logan…"

"Hey, if my friends don't know the reason, yours aren't going to know either."

Veronica sighed. "I'll give you a short version later."

"Veronica!"

She groaned as she rolled her eyes at the sky. She handed Backup's leash to Wallace. "Hang onto him. Give me a minute. I'll be right back." Veronica grabbed Logan's arm and yanked him down the beach away from Wallace.

"Veronica you better not…"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Veronica hissed under her breath. "Of course I'm not going to tell him the true reason behind this truce, OK? I'm the only one who knows that and it'll stay that way."

Logan seemed to take a collective sigh of relief.

"You can't blame him for being curious, Logan. Like I said, he was here when you were having fun vandalizing my car."

"I guess."

"Quit worrying, OK? He's going to get a vague answer like my dad got, OK?"

"OK, OK."

"You should head home to your mom." she told him. "She's probably worried about you."

"My guess is she's not."

"Come on, Logan. Give your mom some credit."

He sighed. "Yeah, I should go."

They headed back to where his X-terra was parked. "I'll talk to you later, OK?" She told him.

He nodded. "Yeah sure."

Wallace handed Backup's leash to her and they started to walk down the beach.

"Veronica." Logan called to her so she turned around. "Merry Christmas."

Veronica gave him a smile. "Yeah, Merry Christmas, Logan."

She saw Logan get in his X-terra and drive away. She then turned back to Wallace who looked ready for his explanation. "I know you want answers, Wallace. It's just kind of complicated to explain what happened."

"Well can you try?"

Veronica took a breath in and slowly exhaled. "OK so the night that school let out for Christmas vacation, I went to Logan's to play poker."

"You? Poker?"

"I know but I brushed up on my skills and beat not only Logan but Duncan, Weevil, and Connor."

"Who's Connor?"

"Oh, Connor Larkin."

Wallace's eyes grew wide. "The movie star?"

Veronica blushed. "Yeah, so anyway back to the story, Logan's mom ended up getting stabbed by some crazy waitress."

"What?"

"Yeah, so anyway at the hospital his mom needed blood and Logan donated. His dad wasn't happy about this and he refused to let him see her."

"That's messed up."

"No kidding." she agreed. "Anyway, I snuck him in to see her. Since then, we have just been slowly working our way back to a truce. Last night's party was the first step to prove to the 09ers that we were working on it."

"Why do I feel like there's more to this story?"

"Because there is." Veronica admitted. "But I did promise Logan that no one's going to find out about it. But everything I've said is true so it did have a lot do with it."

"V, promise me something. "

"OK, what's that?"

"Promise me you're not going to change."

"No, I'm not going to change. I promise."

"I somehow think you're lying."

"No, I'm not. I will admit though the goal of the truce is to get us back to being friends."

"Seriously?"

"Wallace, Logan ended up admitting something to me that I never in a million years would have guessed. He's never told anyone including Duncan and they're best friends. He knows I don't trust him yet and he knows this is going to take time but yeah. I don't plan on being like one of the 09er snobs though. I guarantee it. In fact, to keep them all in line last night, I threatened my taser on them."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the best one was Madison. She thought I was kidding. She found out how wrong she was."

"Did you taser her?"

"No, but she found out how serious I was."

"OK." Veronica returned to her car and got out a present from the trunk. She put it there to keep it away from Backup away from it. In fact, he started to jump on her to get it.

"Backup, sit!"

The dog whimpered but he sat down.

"Here you go." She handed the gift to him. He handed his to her.

"Ohh…this is the perfect present." He opened the box and saw that Veronica had given him snickerdoodle cookies. "Did you make these?"

She nodded. "I remember you saying something about how they were your favorite kind of cookie."

"Well, thanks V. I appreciate it." he smiled at her. "Now open yours."

"Ooo…Dandy Warhols. Thanks, Wallace." She looked at the CD.

"You're welcome."

They spent time talking about what they got from their parents and of course playing fetch with Backup.

It was just after 2:30 when Veronica and Backup returned to Veronica's apartment.

"Hey honey." her dad came in from his bedroom. "So how was your present exchange with Wallace?"

"Good, good." she nodded.

"Listen, while you were gone, there was a messenger that stopped over to deliver something for you."

"For me?" Veronica appeared puzzled. "I'm surprised there are even messengers working today."

Keith shrugged. "Apparently so. I'm sure they have to be compensated nicely though."

He handed Veronica the medium sized present. It was wrapped in gold paper with a silver ribbon bow tied around it. She untied the bow and pulled open the box, gasping as she looked at the present. She pulled out a beautiful silver picture frame and inside of it held a picture of Veronica and Lilly puckering up for the camera. Her face broke out into a huge grin when she saw it. It was taken at Logan's birthday party the year before Lilly died. It was their version of blowing birthday kisses to Logan. She gave a small laugh as her fingers skimmed over the picture. Her eyes welled up with tears.

"Honey?" her dad looked concerned. "Honey, you OK?"

Veronica slowly nodded. "Yeah, yeah of course." she dried her eyes. "I just really love this picture." She clutched it to her chest.

"What's it of?"

"Oh me and Lilly acting silly for the camera."

"Who sent it?"

She searched the box. She knew who it was from though. "Beats me." Veronica shrugged. "There's no card."

"Huh. Pretty odd isn't it?" She was pretty sure her dad knew who it was too but neither one of them said Logan's name.

"Yeah, it is." Veronica headed off to her bedroom to put her picture on her nightstand. She then got out her box of pictures from her closet. She had two separate ones: one was a shoebox filled with childhood pictures, ones of her and Lilly and ones of the 'fab four' as they used to be known. This wasn't the box she chose from though. She had a second box that held pictures in their picture frames. There were only about 7 pictures in there and the frames were all of different sizes. She pulled out one of her and Duncan at a school dance. She groaned as she removed it and tore it into 4 pieces. She wouldn't be able to look at him the same way again.

She then pulled one out of all four of them together at the same dance. Again, since Duncan was in this picture he got removed from it. Only him though. She then found a picture of herself, Lilly, and Logan taken at the beach. It was taken on Veronica's 16th birthday. Logan and Veronica were both dressed in wetsuits because Logan had finally convinced Veronica that she should try surfing. Their surfboards were behind them. Lilly was wearing a fire engine red bikini with matching sarong and her hair was slicked back into a bun. Logan had an arm around each girl. All three had huge smiles plastered on their faces. Duncan wasn't in this picture because he was the one who was taking it. Both Logan and Veronica looked wet, as if they were just returning from surfing. Veronica loved this picture; she had a lot of good memories attached to it. Now she decided she wanted to Logan to have it. She didn't feel right with the fact that he gave her something and she had gotten nothing for him.

She wrapped the picture up and decided that she would wait until the next day before she gave it to him. It was getting later and to be honest, she would have had to think of another excuse to leave the apartment and she needed some time to do that.

At eleven o'clock the next day, Veronica stopped by the florist and picked up a bouquet of flowers. She knew Logan's mom was home from the hospital now and thought it would be a nice gesture. She headed over to the Echolls' house and Weevil's grandmother let Veronica in the gate. She politely knocked on the door and was greeted by Mrs. Navarro. Lynn was lying on the couch with a blanket covering her lap watching TV.

"Veronica, hello!" Lynn smiled warmly. "How nice to see you."

"You too Mrs. Echolls." she glanced down at the bouquet. "I brought these for you."

"Oh you're so sweet. Thank you. Please sit down." Lynn had Mrs. Navarro put the flowers in a vase for her.

Veronica cautiously sat down in a chair next to the couch. "So how are you doing?"

"Oh so-so." Lynn admitted as she moved to sit up a little. "Overall I'm good but still sore."

"Oh, I'm sure."

"Veronica, I wanted to thank you again for helping Logan a few days ago when I was in the hospital."

Veronica tried to think of which time she was talking about. "Sure that is no problem."

"Veronica, can I be honest with you?"

"Umm…sure."

"I'm very happy you helped Logan out but I was rather surprised that you did."

"Well, it's Christmas and I know he missed you." Veronica admitted to Lynn.

"That's not what I'm actually talking about."

Veronica bit her lip. Oh, it was the other thing.

"Lettie, could you excuse us for just a moment?"

Mrs. Navarro nodded then went off to clean.

Lynn sighed. "Logan admitted to me that you heard him talking about…"

"I did." Veronica cut her off.

"He told me what you did for him and I really appreciate it."

"I just offered him my couch for the night."

"Well, I'm glad you did."

Veronica just nodded quietly.

"It's nice to see you two are friends again."

"Oh…well, we're not there yet, Mrs. Echolls. We're working on it though."

"I'm happy you are. I know he's missed you."

Wow, so that's like the third time she's heard that in the last few days. "Thanks." she paused for a moment, uncertain how to broach this subject. "Mrs, Echolls? Can I tell you something?"

"Absolutely."

"Well, Logan of course made me promise not to tell anyone about this and I gave him my word that I wouldn't…"

Lynn watched her nervous expression.

"I have every intention of keeping this a secret but honestly, I'm having an extremely hard time keeping this from my dad. I told him that Logan would need to tell him what's going on. When I brought it up to Logan he said he couldn't and he wouldn't leave unless you did because he doesn't want to leave you behind with Mr. Echolls."

Lynn looked sad.

"Have you given any thought to what Logan asked?"

"Honestly, no."

"Why not?"

"Veronica, it's complicated. I promised I would love him forever."

"He's beating your son. You can't be OK with that."

"I'm not."

"Well…"

"I just don't think I have the ability to survive on my own without him."

"Mrs. Echolls, you can always talk to my dad about how to do this. He's helped people before when he was sheriff and even a few since then. I know it may be tough on you but you're strong enough to do this. Besides, Logan will stand behind you on this."

"Mom, I…" Logan came in from outside. He must have been in the pool house again. He looked confused when he saw Veronica sitting there. "Veronica."

"Hey."

"What are you doing here?"

"Came to see you." she then turned to Lynn. "And see how your mom is doing. Brought her some flowers."

"Very pretty flowers." Lynn corrected her. "Wasn't that sweet of her?"

Logan nodded. "You can come upstairs." he offered.

"OK." she nodded. "Be there in a second." When Logan headed upstairs, Veronica turned back to Lynn. "Please. Give it some serious thought. I know there's a way my dad can help you both. You have to take the first step though."

Lynn was quiet for a few moments then nodded. "I will this time. I promise."

Veronica cracked a smile. "Good. Umm…one last thing. Do you have any idea how Mr. Echolls figured out that Logan came to see you?"

Lynn was clueless. "No idea. I didn't even recognize him with that wig on."

Veronica sighed. This was leading her believe it was Connor who did it. It was making her feel sick.

"Veronica, are you OK?"

"Yeah, sure." she responded blankly. "I…uh... I better go talk to Logan. Take care, Mrs. Echolls."

"You too, Veronica."

Veronica headed upstairs, carrying Logan's present under her arm. She knocked before she entered. Logan was reclined on his bed playing video games.

"Seriously is this all you do in your free time?"

"You mean when I'm not surfing?"

"Yeah."

"Pretty much." he smirked. "Have a seat."

"OK." she took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"So what were you talking to my mom about?"

"About trying to get her to leave."

Logan's eyes grew wide. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously. I tried but I don't know if it did any good."

"I'm surprised."

"Why?"

"I just didn't realize you even cared whether or not she did."

Veronica scowled. "Logan, why do you keep selling me short here? I mean come on. If this is the only way you can see yourself leaving is if she does, of course I'm going to do anything I can to aid in the process."

He processed what she said. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to sell you short."

"Thank you." she cracked a smile. "So umm…thank you for the picture."

"What picture?"

Veronica gave him a knowing smile. "Don't play dumb, Logan. I know it came from you because it was taken at your birthday party. Lilly and I were blowing you birthday kisses, remember?"

Logan grinned smugly. "Yeah, I remember that."

"So since you gave me that picture, I thought you should have this." She handed him the present.

"What is it?"

"Open it." Veronica coaxed and Logan reluctantly tore into it. A few seconds later he pulled out the picture and laughed.

"I figured since you gave me a picture from your birthday party I figured I'd give you one from my birthday party too."

"Yeah, I remember that day. Took me three hours to convince you to try to surf with me."

"Yeah, a lot of good it did."

"Come on, you had fun; you know you did." he pointed to the picture. "This picture proves it. Besides you were able to stay on the board for a good 5 seconds before you fell off. That's 5 seconds longer than Lilly ever did."

"She never got into surfing." Veronica told him.

"She hated surfing." Logan corrected her.

"That was the only time I've tried it."

Logan frowned. "Why?"

"Because I'm not going to go surfing by myself, Logan."

"Why not? I do."

"Yeah, you're a more advanced surfer than I'll ever be."

He thought for a moment. "We'll have to try it again sometime."

She thought for a moment. "Yeah, maybe sometime."

Veronica's phone rang then. She pulled the phone out of her pocket and glanced at the caller ID. She sighed and hit ignore. She put it back in her pocket. She wasn't going to talk to Connor in front of Logan.

"Your dad?" he guessed.

"No." she shook her head.

Logan scowled. "Ahh…that must mean that it was your boyfriend who will not be named."

Veronica groaned. "I've already told you. He's not my boyfriend."

"Why can't you just take me at my word that I know what I'm talking about?"

"Because some actual proof besides your word would greatly be appreciated. I'd like some actual hard evidence."

Logan sighed. He knew it was a losing battle. "Fine but you can't say…"

"You didn't warn me. I know." She looked at the time. "I should go. I never told my dad I was coming over here and I don't want to do anything that will raise suspicion."

"Of course. I'll talk to you later." Before she made it out the door, he called to her.

She turned around. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for the picture."

She smiled. "Yeah, thanks for the picture you gave me."

She headed home then. She called Connor on the way home and he wanted to know if she wanted to go out the next night. She told him sure. There was a new club that was opening that Connor wanted to go to. It was ran by some of his friends. He decided to pick her up at 8. Because Connor was so respectful to get Veronica home early the first time, Keith extended her curfew to 12:30. Veronica was shocked. Granted she was happy but stunned nonetheless.

Veronica wore a midnight blue knee length dress and had her hair curled. When Keith asked where they were going, Connor told him the movie had wrapped and one of the actors was throwing a party to celebrate. It wasn't a total lie; the club was a side business for this actor. Veronica knew though if she told her dad the truth that he wouldn't let her go…and she wanted to go.

They arrived at Club Thin at almost eight-thirty. Veronica looked at the sign in big bold black letters reading that no one under 18 would be admitted.

"Something you failed to mention?" Veronica pointed to the sign.

"Don't worry about that; we're on the list." Connor informed her.

They walked up to the bouncer who requested Veronica's ID and Connor informed him they were on the VIP list. He let them in even without seeing Veronica's ID. Of course, Veronica did have her fake one on hand if need be but she was glad she didn't have to pull it out and use it.

When they stepped inside, the place was already packed. About three-fourths of the people were out on the dance floor. Connor asked Veronica if she wanted a drink. She told him a Coke. He got himself a drink. They then took a seat at a table near the dance floor.

"So how was your Christmas?" Connor asked as he took a drink of his Jack and Coke.

"Good. How was yours?"

Connor groaned. "Mediocre. How much fun can you have being in the desert in Nevada?"

"Didn't you get to do anything fun while you were there? Like gamble in Vegas?"

"I did that one night but after so long it loses its appeal."

"Well, well." They glanced up and saw Logan standing at their table. "Fancy meeting you two here."

"How the hell did you get in here, Echolls?"

"I have my ways." Logan told him bluntly. "Veronica." He turned to her and nodded.

"Logan."

"You look nice."

Veronica raised a curious eyebrow then turned to Connor who was glancing skeptically between the two of them. "Umm…thanks."

"See you guys later." Logan took off and headed to the bar.

"You two were civil to each other." Connor noted.

"Yeah, we're trying to be."

"You are?"

"Yeah, we…uh…called a truce."

"You did?" Connor's eyes grew wide. "Why?"

"We had our reasons." Veronica told him as she drank her Coke. "None I'm at liberty to discuss."

"Logan find himself in trouble yet again?"

Veronica's eyebrows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"His black eye."

Oh god, that's right. It had faded dramatically but you could still see part of it there. "Really can't talk about it; sorry."

"What's going on, Veronica?"

"Connor, I seriously can't say anything. I'm sorry. It's a long story." Veronica glanced over Connor's shoulder and saw that Logan had gotten himself a drink. She sighed. Yeah so Logan's 'ways' involved a fake ID. She knew that because she made it for him back when Lilly was alive.

"Veronica, you're wasting your time. Logan's a bully."

"Connor," she sighed. "there's just so much you don't understand."

"So explain it to me."

"I've told you; I can't. I don't betray people's trust, even if that person is hovering somewhere between best friend and mortal enemy."

Lucky for Veronica, Connor's phone rang then. "Can you give me a second? It's the director."

"Sure." She nodded. "I need to use the restroom anyway." She rose and headed to the bathroom. That was a lie though because she headed to the bar. She glanced over at Logan who was chatting with a brunette. She got in between them which pissed off the brunette.

"Excuse me!" She squawked.

"Don't worry; he's not going home with you. Shoo…" the brunette didn't move though. "Shoo!' She flitted her hand and the brunette grudgingly left.

"Thanks for ruining my chances of getting laid tonight." Logan grumbled.

"You'll survive." she smirked at him. "So…is this just a coincidence or did you figure out where Connor was taking me and follow us?"

Logan signaled for another beer. "Come on Veronica. You really think I care enough to follow you two?"

Veronica's eye narrowed. "I think you more than hate Connor so yeah, I do."

He removed his wallet from his pocket and paid for his beer.

"So let me see it."

"See what?"

Veronica stared at him impatiently. "I know how you got in here. Let me see it."

Logan sighed as he handed his ID to her.

She studied it. "Wow! I must admit; that's quite good craftsmanship."

"That's the idea." he reminded her. "What are you looking for here, a compliment about your handiwork?"

Veronica grinned. "Maybe an acknowledgment that I excel at making these look believable."

"Yes, you do a fabulous job at making this look like a real one."

Luckily, while this conversation was going on, the two bartenders were at opposite ends of the bar so they didn't hear any of that.

"So how did you sneak away?"

"Connor got a call; said something about getting a call from the director."

"He's lying to you, Veronica."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because the director's wife went into labor. The last priority I think he has right now while his baby is being born is the movie. He's talking to someone besides the director."

Veronica felt sick. She frowned as she went off to find Connor and just see who he was talking to. She found him and stayed behind him. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop but she had to know if Logan was right or not.

"Look, I don't feel right doing this." He told the person on the phone. "I've already told you too much, Aaron with the fact that Logan visited your wife in the hospital…"

Veronica's mouth opened in a silent gasp.

"I had made a promise to Veronica that I wasn't going to tell you." He paused for a moment. "Yeah, I'm glad you think I was doing the right thing but I still don't and if you hadn't threatened my job, I still wouldn't have."

She couldn't believe this; Logan was right. Of course Logan was right. Deep down she didn't want to believe he was but she knew it.

"Yeah, he's here. God knows how he got in but he's here. He's camped out at the bar. No, I haven't gotten close to see if he's drinking or not. I'm not your damn spy, Aaron. Hire your own PI. I don't want the job."

"Yeah, Veronica's with me. I pulled a couple strings with my friends. She's not drinking though so it doesn't really matter."

Yeah, Veronica doubted that argument would hold up with her dad though.

"I don't know; Logan and Veronica seem to be getting along. She's keeping some sec…"

Before Connor could finish the sentence, Veronica snatched the phone from his grasp. He flipped around and saw her throwing death glares at him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Nothing…I was just talking to the…"

"Director?" Veronica filled in. "I can't believe you. I know you're lying Connor. You were talking to Aaron. You did. You told him that Logan went to see his mom in the hospital."

"I had to; he threatened my job."

Veronica shook her head. "God Connor you have no idea what you've done."

She turned to walk away. Connor grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him. "Veronica, wait."

"Why? So you can make up more lies? What else did you tell him? Did you mention what I said about Lilly's case?"

"What about Lilly's case?" Logan came upon them.

"No, I didn't."

"Good. It better stay that way too along with some 'secret' I'm keeping for Logan."

Logan was confused. What about Lilly's case? What secret?

"I'm not going to say anything, Veronica. I promised I wouldn't."

"Yeah, cause you were so good at keeping the last secret."

"What secret?" Logan asked impatiently.

"He told your dad you saw your mom in the hospital." Veronica admitted sadly.

It only took two seconds for Logan to punch Connor. Security was about to step in. "Give me a second." she told the security guards. "I'll take him with me in just a second."

They reluctantly nodded.

"If I find out any more about any information that you told Aaron, I'll make sure you get fired the movie myself. It won't even have to be Aaron."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"Never underestimate Veronica Mars." Logan told him before Veronica grabbed his arm and led him out of the club.

"Give me your keys."

"You think I'm going to let you drive my X-terra?"

"Well, you're not driving." Veronica told him bluntly. "You've been drinking. It's either this or a cab; take your pick."

Logan sighed as he handed his keys to her. She got in the driver's side and he got in the passenger side. She started the X-terra and they just sat there for a moment.

"What are you doing?"

"Waiting for you to say it."

"Say what?"

"You know what, Logan." She gave him a pointed look. "OK, I'm ready. Let's hear it."

"OK, I told you so."

"Yeah, I bet you took pleasure in that didn't you?"

"Not as much as you think." he paused. "Just so I know. Exactly how many things did you confide in him?"

"Not too many. He was about to admit to your dad though that I was keeping a secret for you."

"Did you…"

"I stopped him before he got it out and no, like I said, I'm not going to tell anyone what it is but I also didn't want him tipping off that I was keeping something a secret for you. Your dad may suspect what secret it is." Veronica headed out of the parking lot.

Logan sighed.

"I'm sorry."

He glanced over at her. "For what?"

"I really wanted to believe that he wouldn't tell your dad about seeing your mom."

"I'm not surprised in the least."

"I'm sorry Logan."

"I know." He replayed that whole conversation in his head."What did he mean about Lilly's case?"

Veronica sighed. OK, this was going to be tough. "That was something I should have never admitted to him." she mumbled.

"What about Lilly's case, Veronica?" he repeated. "Lilly's killer is in jail."

She shook her head. "No, he's not."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want justice for my dead best friend and I have proof Abel Koontz didn't kill her."

"What proof?"

Veronica turned to head to her apartment. "I'll show you."

"Lilly's dad didn't kill her; he wouldn't do that." Logan's voice had a hardness to it.

"I never said it was Jake but he is lying."

"How do you know that?"

"Are you deaf?" She exclaimed. "I told you; I've got proof." She parked the X-terra to the side of the building so it wasn't in plain view of Veronica's apartment. "Come on."

"Is your dad in there?"

"Probably. We'll just wing it, OK? Follow my lead with what I say, OK?"

Logan nodded as they got out of the vehicle and headed into the apartment.

"Hey dad." Veronica was first in.

"Hey honey." He glanced at the time. It was only 10 o'clock. "Wow! You're home super early."

"Yeah, there's a reason for that."

"What's going on? Where's Connor?"

"Well, let's just say things didn't work out with Connor. It turned out he had been lying to me about a few things."

"Did he have another girlfriend?"

Veronica quickly shook her head. "No, no. Nothing like that. Anyway, I was stuck at the party and so I called Logan and he came and picked me up." She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the apartment. "Wasn't that nice of him?"

"Mr. Mars." he nodded.

"Logan." Keith's eyes narrowed. "You really expect me to believe that?"

"I'm sorry if you don't but Logan was nice enough to help me out. He had warned me that Connor was lying to me and I didn't believe him. Turned out he was right."

Keith stared at him skeptically.

"OK so we'll be right back. I just want to talk to Logan about something."

"Veronica!" He called after them.

"Two minutes, dad. Seriously, there's nothing to worry about." They headed into her room. She opened up her laptop and the folder labeled evidence. "You remember the time Lilly died?"

"I don't know; it was like 4 wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was." She turned the laptop so he could see the picture. "This picture was taken by a red light camera at 6:02 pm on the day she died, Logan."

Logan stared at the picture with wide eyes. Oh god was the only thought running through his head. "She's looking pretty good for a corpse isn't she?"

Logan silently nodded.

"Someone's lying. Lilly's killer is still out there, Logan and I'm going to find out who it is if it's the last thing I do." Veronica vowed.

* * *

**I tried to find in the transcripts about the time Lilly died and I think it was at 4. Anyway, thanks again to SilverLining2k6 for the picture idea. She came up with the one with Lilly and Veronica puckering up for the camera. I came up with the other one though. I had thought about having it at Veronica's birthday party and instead of Logan and Veronica wearing wetsuits, having the girls in bikinis and Logan in board shorts and a t-shirt. I then thought that might end up sending the wrong message though. I had liked the idea of Veronica and Logan surfing and maybe in a future chapter I'll have them surfing. BTW, Connor's gone now. Everyone seemed to be hoping it was sooner than later. Anyway, review please and let me know what you thought.**


	6. Resistance

***Huge sigh* Really sorry it took this long to get this chapter out. This has all been typed within the last week. I took my time coming up with an outline of where I want this story to go and I got to Chapter 12. I'll give you an update at the end of the story on that. Thanks for all the reviews. They're really appreciated. Oh in case you noticed, I did update my screen name. After pulling the majority of my Gossip Girl stories I felt the need to update the name. It didn't feel right to have it as ChuckandBlair4ever. (I still find it true but without the stories kind of silly to have it be that way especially with the show now over). If you get time, please review this chapter. I really do love reading them. **

* * *

The room had fallen eerily quiet for far too long and it had only been about a minute since Veronica had showed him the picture. It was starting to creep her out.

"Come on Logan, say something." Veronica sighed then started to fidget.

"What do you want me to say, Veronica?" Logan whispered.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Something. Anything."

"There's…there's got to be some mistake with the time…"

"Logan, this is a red light camera photo. The time's correct."

"There's no way that Jake could have…"

"I swear to God you need a hearing aid. I told you. I'm not saying that Jake killed Lilly, Logan. I'm saying he lied about who did."

"And that's all you're going on?" Logan asked, not willing to move an inch. "A red light camera photo?"

"Want some more proof?" she raised an eyebrow. "Cause I've got a lot." she brought up the photo of Lilly's shoes. "Do you remember Lilly's shoes? The one I doodled on?"

"You mean the ones that made people think she was claiming her undying love for her brother?"

Veronica smirked as she turned the computer screen around to show him the picture. "Very good. Do you see them there? In the corner?"

"Yeah."

"Do you notice the date?"

He squinted, "Yeah, October 3rd, the day she died."

"Right." she nodded as she brought the picture of Lamb holding Lilly's shoes in the evidence bag. "So how did they wind up on Abel Koontz's houseboat two months later?"

Logan stopped breathing for several seconds. God, everything he believed was wrong. Was it really possible someone else killed Lilly?

"Logan. Logan, would you please breathe here for me?"

He resumed breathing then. "Sorry, I just…I don't know what to say."

"I know." she closed out of the picture and was about to close her computer when he stopped her.

"Wait a minute…what is that?"

"What is what?"

"That." He pointed to a folder on her screen.

"You mean the suspect file? What about it?"

"Why do I see my picture in the little folder?"

"I know you didn't kill Lilly, Logan. I have everybody who had been remotely close with her in that file. I have a file on everyone."

"Including me?"

"Yes, including you." Logan was looking none too pleased with this news so Veronica continued. "Do you want me to make you feel better?" She opened the file and showed him the content of his folder. It outlined key points as to why he was a suspect but in the verdict spot listed his alibi: In Tijuana with Dick and Beaver. "There are witnesses so it's airtight. I know you didn't kill her." Veronica reassured him.

"Veronica…"

Veronica cleared her throat and closed her laptop with a click. "I'm going to find the truth, Logan. Lilly deserves that. I would appreciate you keeping what I showed you to yourself."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning don't tell Duncan." she clarified. "I'm sure he'd flip out."

"He's my best friend, Veronica. I think he has a right to know."

"You're right; he does. But not yet."

"You have a file on him too?"

"I told you; I have a file on everyone. Their parents, him, you, Abel Koontz, hell I even have a folder on Clarence Weidman."

"And that's who?"

"Head of security at Kane software. We won't go into it but he's not being ruled out as an accomplice. He'd take a bullet for Jake if he asked him to I'm sure. He does all his dirty work for the Kanes and I'm not talking about Lilly."

"And what does that mean?"

Veronica pondered for a moment on how exactly to word this. "Let's just say he has ability to scare people. To drive them away."

"Veronica, you're speaking in riddles." Logan shook his head at her. "What does that mean?"

"I'll explain more once we work on this truce/friendship, OK? What I'm trying to accomplish by telling you about this is not to make you paranoid but to get you to realize everyone has dark secrets."

"Obviously." Logan retorted.

There was a knock on Veronica's door. Logan's stomach clenched because he knew Keith would want answers as to what's going on.

"Honey?" Keith poked his head in. "Everything OK?"

"Yeah, just fine, dad. I just had to show Logan some pictures. He's going to get going."

"Yeah, 11:30 curfew." Logan told him as they tried to move past Keith. Keith didn't move just yet though.

"So, Logan, everything OK with you?"

Logan's eyes went to Veronica before he answered. "Yeah, everything's fine."

"Nothing's bothering you?"

Logan frowned, "No why?"

"Well, I did find you sleeping on my couch a few days ago and before I could get an explanation as to why, you suddenly disappeared."

"I told you, dad. He just got into a fight." Veronica reminded Keith.

"Thanks, sweetheart but I'd like to hear the real reason from Logan himself, OK?" Keith turned his attention back to Logan.

Logan stared at him for a moment. He was mentally weighing his options on just how much to tell Keith. He was still positive Keith wouldn't believe that Aaron was behind all the bruises and scars. He decided he would just play the situation by ear. "Look, I was at a party and there were some people making cracks about my parents and how they supposedly have an 'open marriage' and I got fed up with the jokes."

"Why come here though?" Keith asked. "Let's be honest, Logan, you haven't exactly been gracious to Veronica over the last year. In fact, I'd say you bordered on making her life as miserable as you could just for your own amusement."

Logan winced at the admission. Yes, it was true; he had hardly been what some people would have classified as a loyal best friend. "You're right; I don't deserve to have Veronica as my friend. I know I don't. After my mom got stabbed though and she helped me see her in the hospital, I've decided to work on being a better person. I'm grateful that Veronica can put aside her animosity for me and help me out. I'm going to find a way to make it up to her."

"You're going to need to work really hard on that."

"Dad, he knows. This is a truce right now. He knows I'm not going to instantly forgive him for the past year. We're just…working on things right now." Veronica glanced at the time then. It was twenty after 11. "Logan needs to go if he's going make it home by his curfew."

Keith sighed then nodded. He moved out of the doorway. "Of course."

Veronica started to walk Logan out when her dad called out that she had three minutes.

"So do you think he believed me?" he asked as they stood beside his X-terra.

"Doubtful." Veronica admitted. "I won't be telling him any different…" she held his gaze, "for now."

Logan's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean for now?"

"I mean, it's getting increasingly harder to keep this from him. Therefore as long as you keep my secret about the files I have on Lilly's case and don't say a word to Duncan, I won't say a word to my dad about what's really going on."

"Resorting to blackmail now?"

"No." she told him firmly. "I just want some time before Duncan finds out. I plan on telling him. Just…not right this second, OK?"

Logan sighed. OK it was only fair if she was going to keep the abuse stuff under wraps for him it was the least he could do for now. It's not like Duncan suspected anything so there wasn't any chance that he'd be bringing Lilly or her murder case up to Logan any time soon. Honestly, since she died, it was still a touchy subject for both he and Duncan and that was why it was rarely brought up. "Fine."

Veronica's dad peeked out the front door. She rolled her eyes. "Better go. I'll talk to you later, OK? Thanks for bringing me home."

"Don't you mean thanks for lending me for your X-terra so I could drive myself home?" Logan smirked.

Veronica grinned. "Right. You should be good now, right? You feel OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." he nodded. "Talk to you later Veronica."

"Bye Logan."

She watched Logan drive out of the parking lot then headed back into her apartment. She gave her dad a small smile as she headed to her room. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, dad."

Keith wanted to press Veronica for more information about Logan. About what was really going on with him because he really didn't buy the story that Logan was trying to sell. He knew that Veronica would not be forthcoming with details and it had been a long day. "Goodnight, honey."

_**Eight Days Later…**_

Veronica sighed as she pulled into the school parking lot. She was getting stared at yet again. She groaned. She was so not ready for this. This, of course, being the ultimate test of what the kids are going to act like when they realize that the truce she had with Logan wasn't just a Christmas joke; it was real.

She wasn't big on school to begin with but now it was like yet another reason for the kids to hate her. People were acting like Logan was betraying them by calling a truce with Veronica. What on earth would cause Logan to suddenly forgive Veronica? Veronica rolled her eyes at all of them. She let things roll off her back for the last year; this would likely just be like any other day.

"Hey Supafly…" Wallace joined her in between her 1st and 2nd classes. "How're things going?"

"Just peachy."

"Apparently you're the center of attention today."

"When is that different from any other day?" Veronica quipped as Wanda Varner passed her in the hallway and gave her a dirty scowl. "So apparently Wanda's thinking I've went to the dark side."

"Haven't you?"

Veronica sighed as she stopped dead in her tracks. "Wallace, I've already told you. I have my reasons for calling this truce. Actually Logan was the one who suggested it but regardless. My point is I haven't forgotten this past year. I haven't forgotten the pain and hurt he caused me. It's not like I snapped my fingers and said 'Poof! You're forgiven Logan!' That's not going to happen. He already knows that."

Wallace was still skeptical.

"Look my dad has gotten off hounding me for the time being about him. It would be nice if we could just drop the topic for today, OK?"

They looked around at everyone walking by them and the looks spoke for themselves.

"Yeah, not a chance in hell of that happening today." Wallace commented as they walked to their next class.

* * *

"So word is you and Echolls are all chummy again."

Veronica sighed as she got her books out of her locker for her 3rd period class. She knew that voice. This was going to probably be the hardest person she'd have to encounter today. She slammed her door and was face to face with Weevil. "You believe everything you hear, Weevil?"

"No, not everything. But I've got plenty of witnesses who are taking notice of just how you two are acting around each other."

"Well, your 'witnesses'" Veronica air quoted the word. "are being deceived, OK? First of all, I haven't even seen Logan today so I don't know where these supposed witnesses would see us acting all chummy around each other. Second, Logan and I…we're not friends, OK? We have a truce. A truce that we will stop deliberately trying to hurt each other."

"Whatever. You're gonna get hurt, V."

"I'm a hell of a lot stronger than I look, Weevil. You should know that by now."

"What would ever make you even consider striking a truce with that punk?"

Veronica's gaze drifted behind Weevil where, about 10 feet down the hall, Logan stood talking to Dick and Cassidy. He caught her gaze and cracked a smile.

"I have my reasons, OK? No one, including any of the 09ers, knows why we struck this truce and it's gonna stay that way. No one knows; not my dad, not Wallace, not you."

"You're setting yourself up, you know? What happens when he hurts you again and you have no one to help you?"

"Meaning that if I need help I shouldn't come to you?"

Weevil smirked, "You said it, not me."

"I guess I'll survive just fine. What happens when you or any of your boys get in trouble and you won't have me to bail you out?"

Weevil got quiet.

"Yeah that goes both ways. Logan and I are not friends, Weevil. Just because a truce has been made, doesn't mean that I'm giving him friendship bracelets now. We're civil to each other. That's it."

"Yeah, we'll just see about that." Weevil sneered as he left.

* * *

Veronica rolled her eyes as she headed to class. The following 2 classes before lunch weren't any better. When it came time for lunch, Veronica and Wallace sat at their usual table. The interesting thing was, Logan, who was normally front and center at the 09er table wasn't there. He was over by the school doors, pacing back and forth.

"You think he's hesitating?" Wallace snickered. "Think he's anticipating being eaten by the vultures?"

Veronica stifled a laugh, "Yeah, that's what it is."

She heard a few people making noises so she glanced over her shoulder and saw Logan making his way to his table. He still had a place there but the amount of people who talked to him had greatly dropped. He shrugged it off though. He was secure enough to know if something like making a truce with Veronica was going to define who his friends were and who weren't, so be it. It'd help him weed out who really cared about him or who was just his friend because of his animosity towards Veronica.

"Dude, what the hell took you so long?" Dick said around a mouthful of food.

"I was talking to my mom on the phone." Logan frowned.

"Oh I thought maybe you and Ronnie had snuck off and we're…"

Logan groaned, "Whatever you're going to say would you just shut the hell up? For the thousandth time today, Dick, we have a truce going, OK? That's it. Besides, it's kind of hard to sneak off with Veronica when she has been sitting at her table the whole time I was on the phone."

Dick frowned as he glanced over at her table and noticed how Veronica gave a sweet little wave to him to let him know she heard what Logan said.

"We'd really like an explanation, Logan." Cassidy told him. "Nothing you've said has made any sense. What suddenly changed?"

"You've asked me that how many times now?"

"Thousands." Dick told him, clearly exaggerating.

"And have I told you anything different from the original time you asked it?"

"No you just said you had your reasons."

"That's right; I have my reasons. No one is going to know the real reason except me and Veronica. Everyone here is to leave her alone and if they don't, well, I don't need them as my friends anymore."

"Dude, you serious?" Dick's eyes grew wide.

"Yes, I am."

"You'd cut out your friends you've known for your entire life? The ones who have been nothing but loyal to you? You'd cut them out for someone like Veronica Mars?" Cassidy asked in a perplexed tone.

Logan didn't even hesitate when he told him. "Yeah, I would. Ask me again why I called the truce with her and you can forget us being friends too."

Dick and Cassidy couldn't believe what they were hearing. They were even more shocked to see Logan get up from his seat then and sit with Veronica.

Veronica and Wallace stared at him skeptically. "Are you trying to get them to come over here with pitchforks or what?" Veronica asked as she ate her lunch. Her eyes were still on the 09er table which all of the occupants still had their eyes on her.

"Aren't you overreacting?"

"Uh…no."

"Got to go." Wallace rose. "Later, V."

"Later." She then turned her gaze on Logan. "So…how do you like being a pariah?"

"I don't mind it."

"Really."

"Yeah, really."

"Come on Logan. You love being the king of the 09ers."

Logan glanced over at his table. Some people had finally looked away but a good majority were still watching him. "Yeah, maybe I do but I also don't need to justify my every action to them either. Do any of them seeing me questioning why the hell after what Madison did to Dick, he's still talking to her?"

"They both have a mutual hatred for me." Veronica reasoned as she saw them whispering to each other then glaring at her. "Really wish I would have tasered her ass."

Logan chuckled. "She probably would have deserved it."

"No probably about it. She would have deserved it." she paused for a moment. "So…you were on the phone with your mom." Veronica kept her eyes on her food. She was almost finished with her sandwich. "Is she OK?"

"Yeah, seems like it. I have to pick up some medicine for her on the way home."

Veronica took note of his demeanor just then. He actually passed for anxious. "What's going on?"

Logan quickly shook his head. "Nothing. No big deal."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

She scanned the tables again. Ahh…it was just something that apparently he didn't want anyone to know about. "OK. Let me know if you change your mind." Veronica rose then. "Need to go though. Have to review for the English test before next period. Later."

"See ya."

Veronica headed back into the school when someone called to her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Mac heading towards her. "Hey Mac. What's up?"

"First, just a question. Are you and Logan like hooking up secretly?"

Veronica nearly choked. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you know how this school is. That's the rumor that was circulating around when I was in the locker room after PE. Apparently that's why you're acting so friendly to each other."

"Why does that not shock me? Tell me…were these 09er girls?"

Mac nodded. "Madison, Ashley, and Shelly."

"Madison's going to get her ass tasered before the end of school today I swear to God. No, Mac, Logan and I aren't friends nor are we doing any kind of 'friendly' activities slyly or publicly." she paused for a moment. "OK so publicly we're being civil to each other. We have a truce going. That's it. I promise."

"OK, I mean it doesn't matter to me if you would happen to be…"

"But we're not."

"Regardless, I just want you to know that."

"Thanks." Veronica cracked a smile. "So is there something else going on?"

Mac scanned the hallway. "I need a favor."

"Sure. What's that?"

"Well," Mac looked around again. "It would be kind of a PI thing."

Veronica smirked, "Step into my office then."

They headed into the girls bathroom and Veronica checked all of the stalls, all of which were clear. She blocked the door then. "What's going on?"

"I also heard some other girls talking in the locker room about how you had recently dug up dirt on their parents for them."

"Yeah, I did that for a few girls." Veronica admitted then frowned. "That's what you want? You want me to dig up dirt on your parents?"

"It's not like they're bad parents; they just…don't get me. They're nachos and NASCAR and I'm more…"

"Falafels and Fellini?"

"Exactly. You being a PI, you have access to search engines that would take me weeks to hack into, so…I mean I have cash."

Veronica shook her head, "No worries. Keep your money. It's a professional courtesy. Why don't you write down their names for me and I'll see what I can find out and get back to you tonight or tomorrow?"

"OK." Mac nodded as she took out a piece of paper and wrote down her parents' names and their address then handed it to Veronica.

"OK." Veronica folded the piece of paper and put it in her bookbag. "I'll let you know."

"Thanks Veronica. I appreciate it." Mac cracked a smile.

"Sure. Not a problem Mac."

They headed out and Veronica headed into her English class. She only had about three minutes before the bell would ring. Luckily she normally did well on Mrs. Murphy's tests. She could recite Shakespeare in her sleep and sometimes actually had.

* * *

Before she left school, she stopped by her locker to drop off her books.

"So seriously…who are you trying to fool?"

"Obviously not you, Weevil." She turned around and smiled thinly at him. "What now?"

"You're not fooling anyone."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"What do you mean what am I talking about? You and Echolls."

"There's nothing going on between me and Logan, OK? We have a truce. That's it."

"So that's why he was sitting with you at lunch?"

"Don't you have anything better to do than spy on me?" Veronica snapped. She was getting tired of this. "Do you remember what happened at Logan's parents' Christmas party? His mom got stabbed. OK, I helped him go see her in the hospital and since I was so nice, that's why we called a truce. He decided it wasn't worth being angry anymore. According to him, he was never really angry at me apparently."

"And you were gullible enough to believe him."

"Do you know me at all?" she asked exasperated. "No, I told him that was a bunch of bs if I ever heard it. He told me he didn't hate me. He hates Lilly."

"And you believe him?"

"No, not completely. I do believe he hates her though." she stared at him skeptically. "So…were you one of the many that Lilly had gotten with?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb, Weevil. Logan said he heard you talking with your boys about how Lilly was running around on him and sleeping with a bunch of PCHers. So tell me…were you one of them?"

"I don't kiss and tell, V."

"OK, I'll take that as a yes."

"I never said I did."

"And you didn't deny it either." she reminded him. "You hate Logan that much."

"Maybe I just thought she deserved someone who would treat her better." Weevil justified. "Kind of like you."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you could do 10 times better than Echolls…"

"You're thinking of us as more than just people that are more than acquaintances but less than friends. And we're not…"

"So you say. Repeatedly."

"Then how about start believing it? I really don't have to justify myself to you…"

The next thing Veronica heard was Logan's voice shouting and then a punch came. She rushed around the corner and saw Logan and Felix getting into a fight. Weevil was right behind her and pulled Felix away from Logan.

"Alright what the hell is going on?" Weevil demanded.

"Nothing." Felix sneered. "I was just asking Echolls here if she was just as good of a lay as his ex-girlfriend was."

Weevil glanced between Veronica and Logan and decidedly punched Felix.

"Ow! What the hell was that for, Weevs?" Felix whined.

"You don't say that shit about Veronica. You understand me?"

"Fine." Felix whimpered then headed out of the school.

Weevil looked at Veronica. "Just be careful, girl. You got me?"

Veronica sighed. "Yes, I got you."

"Later." Weevil gave a careless nod to Logan then headed out.

Logan and Veronica then headed out of the school. They stopped at his X-terra. "What happened?" she finally asked after a couple minutes of silence.

"You mean just now? He was making cracks about Lilly and my mom and then mentioned that thing about you…" Logan nursed his lip which was bleeding. He was surprised that Clemmons didn't show up and try to break the fight up.

"What did he say about your mom?"

"Just that she was stupid for not noticing that my dad had banging his costars, the help, etc. Then of course he mentioned about how I was similarly that way with not noticing that Lilly was doing the same thing to me…"

"No one could have thought that she…"

"There were times I suspected, Veronica. I shouldn't have been so stupid to not notice it. I'm really the last person you could call naïve."

"True. That title is more than likely reserved for me."

"You're not naïve."

"I used to be though. Especially when it came to her."

"You just liked to believe she was a better person than what she was." he told her bluntly. "You wore rose-colored glasses when it came down to her, but to put it in simple terms. Lilly had the ability to be a cheating, backstabbing bitch."

"Logan!" Veronica gasped.

"What? I'm tired of pretending she wasn't."

"God, you really are still so angry at her aren't you?"

"Damn right I am."

Veronica sighed, "Then do something about it."

Logan's eyes narrowed, "And just how do you propose I do that?"

"Vent." She told him simply. "Go to the cemetery, go to her grave and tell her exactly what you're feeling."

"What the hell good is that going to do?"

"Logan, you can't keep things bottled up. If you do that, it's going to destroy you. She may not respond but you would at least get what you want to say off your chest. It's been a year, Logan. You should let it go."

"I think it's pointless if I'm not going to get a reaction."

"Logan, the point is, you're going to tell her what you've been wanting to say since she died. She was taken so suddenly from all of us and you never got closure. This will give you closure. It will give you the ability to move on. Aren't you tired of being dragged down by this?"

Logan sighed. Truthfully, he was. "Have you done this?"

"What? Went to her grave and vented?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I've done it a few times. I normally end up screaming about her leaving me and abandoning me and how could she do that."

"If you've done it more than once, how does it make you feel better?"

Veronica groaned; God he asked way too many questions. "It always does. I normally do it when something happens when I would have leaned on her for help. By doing it, it seems to help me figure out what I need to do or what advice she would have given me for help."

"Are you serious?"

"Don't look at me like I'm crazy." Veronica argued. "It's not like I see her but in a way, I can still hear her. You have to know what I mean when I say that."

Logan sighed. Yeah he knew. It was like an annoying little conscience voice. He had heard it often in the last year telling him that he was such a bastard for treating Veronica the way he was. He normally made it go away by drinking himself into oblivion. "Yes I know."

"So why don't you try it?"

"Maybe I will."

Veronica smiled. "Good."

"There's just one condition."

She frowned. "And what's that?"

"You have to try surfing again." he stated.

"Why do I have to try surfing again?"

"Because there are different ways to alleviate pain, Veronica. You have one way to do it; mine is surfing."

Veronica sighed. She wasn't really wanting to try to surf again. Logan smirked. "Are you actually afraid to try it again?"

She scoffed at the notion. "Of course not."

"If I go to the cemetery which is something I haven't done since Lilly was buried, why don't you try to surf again since apparently you haven't done it since the last time I dragged you out."

OK she had to admit when she surfed the last time, she had enjoyed it. Part of it had to do with being out in the ocean. It made her feel like she didn't have a care in the world then. And the other part of her enjoyed it because she did it with Logan. It was something that they just did; Lilly was appalled at the idea of trying to get on a surfboard. Surfing was stupid in her books. She couldn't comprehend the zen part of surfing.

Veronica hadn't lasted long on the surfboard but Logan didn't laugh at her for falling off. He encouraged her. He was a pretty good teacher too. She stared at him now, giving him a knowing look. "Fine, fine."

Logan's face broke out into a huge grin. He knew he'd wear her down. "Good I thought it was going to take me three hours again to get you to agree."

"Nope not this time. This time we're going to face things head on. This time we'll be fearless."

"Fearless." Logan nodded.

**Wow, it really doesn't like me doing line breaks at the end anymore ;) OK, so in case you couldn't tell next chapter is called Fearless. I'll tell you a short story about the cemetery thing. Some people may think it's weird; others may understand the concept but this was how I dealt with things when my grandpa died. He died from carbon monoxide poisoning (simply put, self-induced poisoning). I was 13 at the time (long time ago ;) ) and there were times that I did go to the cemetery and vent and scream and release all the anger I had. It was just how I dealt. Honestly, I can't think of a better way for Logan to let go of all the pain without doing this. Surfing can temporarily relieve it, but it'll still be there. This way it gives him closure. OK, also with surfing the whole zen thing? I've heard people say that. (I watched A LOT of 90210 growing up and I automatically think of Dylan and his surfing :D) One last thing, I do have the next several chapters planned out and I will admit right now that things go dark for a little while. Couple chapters at least. All to prove how strong LoVe is together though. Just be prepared. Has a lot to do with Aaron. It hasn't nothing to do with splitting LoVe up though. And it won't be the next chapter. Next chapter is lighter. Anyway, review when you get time and let me know what you thought. **


	7. Fearless(aka Closure)

**Hey! Happy Easter! I was hoping to get this out earlier in the week but didn't get a chance to. I'm doing my online class homework and it hasn't been fun to say the least. Anyway, I just got the chapter done and overall I think it turned out pretty good. I was a little surprised by some of the comments on reviews from the last chapter. The 09ers were never going to cut Logan out. The way I looked at it was that Logan was choosing a Veronica move and that he didn't need the 09ers to define who he is. Anyway, give it a read and let me know what you thought. I still like reading all the reviews, I just thought it was interesting people thought that. Thanks for all the reviews by the way. They always are really appreciated!**

* * *

"Oh my god." Veronica gasped. She had been looking up the information on Mac's parents that Mac had requested. She didn't find anything unusual at first. An audit, some tickets, magazine subscriptions. Then, at the bottom of the page, was something peculiar. Mac's parents had won a lawsuit back in 1992 and were awarded a million dollar settlement.

Veronica got out her phone and punched in Mac's cell phone number. It rang a couple times before she answered. "Hello?"

"Hey Mac, it's Veronica."

"Hey, what's up? Did you find something?"

"Umm…yeah you could say that. Honestly, nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first. There was an audit and some tickets but then I noticed your parents won a million dollar lawsuit against Neptune Memorial Hospital back in '92."

Mac's voice registered shock. "What? No way. That's got to be a mistake."

"Hello? Sleuth prowess here." Veronica reminded her.

"Come on. They hate lawyers and they never go near the hospital."

"So you want me to look into it?"

Mac didn't hesitate with her response, "Yeah, I do."

"OK, I'll get back to you just as soon as I know."

"Thanks Veronica." Mac hung up then.

Veronica glanced at the time. It was 5:30. She grabbed her bag and headed out. "Dad, I'll be back in a little bit."

"Where are you going?"

"Heading to the library. It's for a case."

Her dad gave her a knowing look.

"I promise. That's the truth. I found something out on a background check and the person that hired me wants me to figure out more about it. "

"OK." Keith told her. "Be back by 7."

"Will do."

The library was deserted. That was probably a good thing. She headed to the microfiche and started browsing through newspapers dated back to 1992. She almost missed it; the word Baby caught her eye though so she went back and saw **Hospital Takes Hit on Baby-Swap Case**.

"Oh my god." Veronica whispered as she scanned the story. She knew it would be something big but not necessarily this big. How was she going to explain to Mac that she was switched at birth?

She shut off everything she had used and headed over to Mac's house. For the entire ride over, Veronica's stomach was tied in knots. She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach of just how this may go. Sure, she has had to tell people news they didn't want to hear but this was a little bit different. She liked to consider Mac somewhat of a friend. How do you tell one of your friends everything you knew about your family was potentially a lie?

She parked her car and slowly made her way to the house. There was still a Christmas wreath hanging on the door. She gave a quick knock and a few moments later, Mac appeared at the door.

"Hey."

Veronica plastered on a brave smile. "Hey. Got a minute?"

"Sure." Mac nodded as she moved away from the door.

As they walked through the house to Mac's room, a ball came whizzing by Veronica's head. She and Mac looked over to see Mac's little brother Ryan with a toy gun, giggling.

"Ryan!" Mac yelled, "Open that door and you'll know pain like you've never known in your pathetic little life!" Mac sighed and gave Veronica an apologetic grin.

When they walked into Mac's room, Veronica glanced around and noticed that Mac's walls were covered with art posters. She also had a ton of books everywhere. "Wow!" Veronica murmured, "Who's your curator?"

"You like it?" Mac smirked, "It's like my own little cave. Whenever I run out of space, my dad just builds me more shelves."

Veronica smiled. There was a knock on Mac's door. Her mom, Natalie, came in carrying a tray. She was thin, her blonde hair in a shoulder length bob. "Knock, knock. Hi you must be Veronica. I wasn't sure if you were a normal eater or one of those freakball vegans like Cindy."

Veronica glanced at Mac then answered. "Um…more normal than freakball, thanks."

Things went silent for a moment which Mac broke up. "OK so thanks mom."

Her mom nodded. "OK." Natalie left the girls alone then.

"Cindy?" Veronica raised an amused eyebrow.

Mac shrugged, "It won out over Barbie. So what did you find out? Has to be pretty big to have you come deliver it in person."

Veronica sighed heavily. She really hadn't decided how she was going to say this yet. "Umm…"

"Suspense effectively built." Mac told her as she sat on her bed. "Hit me."

Veronica took a seat on a nearby chair. "It is big," she admitted, "Like life-altering big so you should think about if you really want to hear it or if you'd rather forget about it and just go on with your life." Veronica decided to add, "And may I suggest option B?"

"I'm adopted, aren't I?" Mac concluded. "Go ahead and tell me. It would explain a lot."

OK, here goes. "Well, yes and no. Umm…the MacKenzies aren't your biological parents."

"What does that mean?"

Veronica sighed, "You were sent home with the wrong family."

Mac's face fell. "Oh my god."

"And there's more."

"More than that?"

"Another family was awarded a million dollars at the same time."

Mac was quiet. "OK."

"Umm…another baby girl, born the day after you were and your parents took her home."

"Another girl…born a day after me." The reality hit Mac like a ton of bricks. "I was switched at birth with Madison Sinclair?!" Her voice shrilled. She clamped her mouth shut then realizing that her parents could have potentially heard her and came in her room. Luckily no one came to check.

Veronica slowly nodded, "Yeah."

There was silence as reality settled in.

"I'm sorry, Mac."

"For what, Veronica? You did what I asked you to. You warned me it was big but I wanted to hear it anyway. It's…it's fine really. I'm OK."

Veronica glanced at her watch; it was almost 7. "Umm…I need to go. Dad has had me a short leash since he thinks that Logan and I are friends now."

"Aren't you?" Mac smirked.

"I…" Veronica paused, unsure of what to tell her, "I don't know. Saying we have a truce is so much easier."

"But it's not the truth."

Veronica stared at her.

"You know that no one believes that, right?"

"Yeah, I know." Veronica whispered. "I don't know, Mac. I can't erase the last year but then again…I may have to knowing now what I do."

"What does that mean?"

"It means Logan's got a secret just as big as the revelation I came up with for you. I'm the only person who knows it. He's never told another soul. Not even Duncan who is his best friend and has been since kindergarten. The fact that he trusts me even though we weren't really friends anymore…" Veronica sighed. "It's surprised me."

"I bet. The way he was acting today it was also like he was going to give up being king of the 09ers for you."

"Looks can be deceiving. He won't ever give up being king of the 09ers. I can promise you that."

"Let's say he gets all of the 09ers to agree to let you back into their fold, especially at their lunch table again. What would you say then?"

"I'd say 'I'm happy right where I am but thanks for the invitation.'"

"You really believe that?"

"Yeah, I do. Whether or not this is a true friendship or not with Logan, I don't tend to make any changes to my other friends."

Mac quietly nodded.

"OK, really need to go now." Veronica told her as she made her way to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow. Umm…thanks for letting me know."

"Sure." Veronica nodded. She hesitated at the door before she left. She turned around. "Mac?"

"Yeah?"

"I realize that this won't make you necessarily feel any better considering your news but be glad you have nice parents who love you. Parents who don't run away or abuse you in any way. You may not be biologically theirs but they still love you in spite of that."

"Veronica…" Mac looked at her confused by the statement.

"You're very lucky. You have two parents who love you. My mom didn't bother to stick around. Most of us weren't blessed with that luxury of understanding parents, let alone parents who are still happily married." Veronica made an assumption with that statement but given what she saw with Mac's mom, she was pretty sure she was right.

"Yeah, I guess I am pretty lucky."

"Yeah, you are. You're one of the luckiest people I know. Don't forget that." Veronica admitted then headed out.

* * *

"Supafly? You OK?" It was the next day in English when Wallace had noticed that Veronica had gotten quieter, more distant.

"Hmm?" she glanced over at him. "Oh yeah I'm fine."

"Is it Logan?"

"No, no. Just one of the cases I've been working on."

"You sure that's all it is."

"Yeah, I'm positive." Veronica really wanted an opinion but she didn't want to give Mac's identity away or her situation. "Wallace, have you ever found out a lie that your mom had told you?"

"Like eating vegetables will help me grow up big and strong?" Wallace joked.

Veronica gave a small laugh, "Ahh…no. Something that you had believed for the longest time to be true and then you found out it was a lie."

"What's going on?"

"I'm…I'm just curious. Have you?"

"Yeah," He admitted after a long pause, "I guess maybe once or twice. Have you?"

"Yeah, a few times actually."

"What brought this on?"

"Just this case. I had to tell the person I was working for pretty much everything they believed about their family was a lie."

"Wow."

"Yeah." Veronica slowly nodded. "It shouldn't be affecting me at all but it got me to thinking about the lies parents tell their kids. It made wonder whether or not they're telling the lie to protect the kids or protect themselves."

"You are far too philosophical at 9 am, V." Wallace groaned.

"Well, I can't help it. So what did you do when you found out the truth?"

"Hmm…?"

"What did you do when you found out your mom had lied to you?"

"Well, I guess I asked why she lied."

"Did you stay mad at her?"

"For a little while I guess."

"But you forgave her?"

Wallace shrugged, "I found it hard not to. I mean, I know she's just looking out for me. She's been a single mom for quite awhile and she's just doing the best that she can."

Veronica smiled. She didn't know what Mac was going to do with the new information she had acquired about her parents but ultimately Veronica just hoped that Mac would react the same way: realize that her parents were just looking out for her and doing the best they could.

At lunch, Veronica glanced around to see if she could find Mac. She felt she needed to check on her and make sure she was still doing OK. She found Wallace sitting with his basketball buddies. They appeared to be talking strategy for their next game. Veronica found Mac sitting a couple tables over from the 09er table. Her expression on them was bland but her eyes held a frigid glare…particularly on Madison Sinclair, who failed to notice. Logan was seated among them and fully engrossed in the conversation he appeared to be having with Dick and Cassidy regarding surfing. It sounded like they were going to be making a trip out after school today.

"Hey," Veronica took a seat next to Mac. She had a good view of the 09er table. "So did you get any sleep last night because I…" It was then Veronica noticed what Mac was clutching between her hands. It was a flyer. She quickly grabbed it. "Helping to keep America beautiful by picking up the litter?"

Mac grabbed the flyer back and stared at it, "Wanna crash a party with me?"

Veronica didn't try to hide her opposition to the idea. "Oh bad idea, Mac. Bad bad idea."

"Come on Veronica. It's my chance to see how the other half lives; especially considering I should have been the other half."

"Just how do you think we're going to be getting in? Madison won't be letting us anywhere near her house."

Mac glanced over at the 09er table. "Not normally but you've got an in with the 09ers. One in particular."

Veronica sighed as she stole a glance at Logan, "God. If I did that, that would mean I would owe Logan a favor. I'm not huge on owing him favors."

"Please? For me? I have to know, Veronica." Mac's voice didn't hide the trace of pleading that was currently in it. "I just want a glimpse of what my life could have been like."

Veronica locked eyes with Logan for a moment. Long enough for her to crook her finger and have him come over. "If I owe Logan a favor, you're going to owe me one."

"I know." Mac was perfectly fine with that.

"No promises." She told her as Logan took a seat at her table. Veronica glanced at Logan who was smirking at her.

"Yes your highness?"

"Hmm…I like that title. Let's keep that going, shall we?"

"What do you need, Veronica?"

"A favor."

"A favor?" Logan raised an amused eyebrow.

"Yes," Veronica sighed. "Are you going to Madison's birthday party?"

Logan shrugged, "I guess. Maybe for a little while. Why?"

Veronica shot her gaze over to Mac who held her pleading look. "Any possible way you can get me and Mac in?"

"You want to go to Madison's birthday party?"

"Not particularly." Veronica admitted. "But I have a reason."

"Feel like sharing?"

"She's just doing it because of me." Mac volunteered. "It's…kind of a long story as to why I want to go."

Logan caught something with the look that Mac and Veronica had just shared but chose not to question it. "So…what are you going to do for me?"

Veronica's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

Logan gave an incredibly convincing contemplative look. He knew what he wanted; he wasn't going to spring it on her yet though. "I'll think of something."

"Yeah, I bet you will." Veronica retorted under her breath. "Something that isn't life-threatening, you got me?"

"I know." Logan groaned.

"What time are you going?" Veronica asked.

"Around 9."

"OK, we'll just meet you in front of Madison's house then."

"Driving separate?" Logan asked.

"Well, you plan on getting drunk again so that I'll have to drive your X-terra?"

"Dude, you let Ronnie drive your X-terra?" Dick came over to the table. Everyone at Veronica's table looked up at him. "You never even let me drive it!" He complained.

Veronica sighed. "He wasn't letting me drive it for fun, Dick. He…" She glanced at Logan who was watching her pensively to see what she would say. "We happen to both be a club. I was on a date with…"

Logan smirked at her. Was she going to mention Connor?

"Someone and things went bad. Logan was going to give me a ride home but he had been drinking so I told him that I was either calling him a cab or he'd need to let me drive. He chose the latter."

"No, Veronica I have no intention of getting drunk."

"Getting drunk where?" Dick asked.

"At Madison's birthday party." Logan answered.

"Why the hell not? I plan on it." Dick admitted as he walked away.

Veronica shook her head, "It'll be easier to drive separate. Especially if we want to leave before than you do."

"Fine. Just meet me in front of her house."

"Sounds good. Thanks Logan." Logan got up and left then.

Veronica turned her gaze back to Mac who was looking relieved.

"You so owe me." Veronica shook her head at her as she drank her water.

* * *

Friday night, Veronica looked herself over in the mirror. She sighed. She was wearing a black and red plaid skirt, red shirt and black suede coat adorned with multiple zippers which hid pockets. She wore minimal eye shadow and a little lipstick and had her hair flipped out. She was not putting any more effort into her appearance and she didn't care what any of them thought. She grabbed her watch from her jewelry box then thought of something. She opened her dresser drawer and pulled out an envelope and hid it in her purse. Just in case the evening called for it.

She went by Mac's house and picked her up just before 9.

"You ready for this?" Veronica asked as she parked her car in front of Madison's house. She looked above Mac's head at the two-story house. To say that it was huge was an understatement.

Mac looked at the house. "Yeah, here goes nothing."

When they got out of Veronica's car, Logan was waiting for them.

"I was beginning to wonder if you two planned to emerge here."

"Of course." Veronica and Mac arrived first at the door and rang the doorbell. Madison opened the door and her jubilant expression went sour.

"Happy Birthday Madison!" They yelled.

"What the hell are you two doing here?"

"Well, we came to celebrate your birth, of course." Veronica volunteered.

"I meant who invited you?"

"Umm…" Veronica looked over her shoulder at Logan.

"That would be me." Logan told Madison.

"Just because you still think you're king of the 09ers, Logan doesn't mean you are and you sure as hell don't get to invite them to my birthday party."

"Oh grow up Madison." Logan told her. "First of all, there isn't any thinking involved. I am king of the 09ers whether you like it or not. Second, they don't have intention of ruining your party, OK? Quite frankly you won't even know they're here, OK?"

Madison huffed away leaving the door open. All three stepped inside. There were people watching them but they quickly looked away. Mac and Veronica took off to get something to drink. Veronica first scanned the table. Hmm…she didn't trust anything she saw then went to her backup option. Being ever sufficient, she had brought a Sunkist for herself which she had stashed in her purse.

Mac opted for something stronger. She grabbed herself a plastic cup and poured herself a drink. She quickly swallowed the first third. Veronica raised an eyebrow.

"Liquid courage of course." Mac reminded her. "Besides, I'm going to need it to get through tonight." She took another long drink.

"Hey Ronnie." Dick and Cassidy came upon them. Dick had his leering glare on Veronica while Cassidy appeared to be quite taken with Mac's drinking ability as she poured more into her cup.

"Dick, Cassidy."

"So who's your friend?" Cassidy asked, his eyes never leaving Mac. Mac looked surprised at the interest.

"This is Mac."

"So how did you end up getting invited?" Dick asked.

Mac and Veronica shared a look.

"Never mind; that must mean Logan got you in."

"It's a long story, Dick."

"More than your brain could probably comprehend." Mac smiled sweetly at him as she polished her drink off.

Cassidy smirked at the slam on Dick.

"You seriously expect after all these little favors Logan's been doing for you that we're supposed to believe you two aren't hooking up?"

"Goodbye Dick."

They turned to leave.

"God, he's annoying!" Veronica complained.

"I know he's irritating." Mac looked behind Veronica and saw a bunch of guys clearing things up off a table in the living room. Then a box was put down and also a deck of cards. Veronica smirked. How convenient that they had all the items needed to play a poker game? "What's going on over there?" Mac asked, her eyes narrowed on the table.

"It appears they're going to play poker."

"Have you ever played?"

Veronica smirked, "Oh yeah. I think it's time to actually beat some more rich boys' asses again."

"You really think they're going to let you play?" Mac raised a curious eyebrow.

"Money talks, Mac." Veronica grinned then took off to the living room. Dick, Luke, Logan, and Duncan had all taken seats at the table.

"Oh no, no, no." Veronica made her presence known as she took a seat in between Duncan and Logan. "You can't play poker without me." Duncan and Logan sighed. They felt they had at least a halfway decent shot at winning at least one of the games but with Veronica playing, well, that idea flew right out the window.

Dick started to protest, "This is a guy's game only, Ronnie."

"What's the matter, Dick? Afraid to lose to a girl?" she taunted.

There was a collective ooo throughout the room. More people gathered in the room which pissed off Madison. This was supposed to be her birthday party! She stomped off to the kitchen to get herself a drink.

"No, I just don't need you whining and crying when you lose. Besides there's a $1000 buy in to play."

"First of all, if you think I'm going to whine and cry you really have no clue who you're dealing with. And second," Veronica reached into her purse and grabbed the money from the envelope and tossed it on the table. "Anything else?"

"Where the hell did you get the money? Your side job as a hooker?" Dick snickered.

There were a collective set of cackles. Veronica smirked. "No, actually I beat four boys' asses at poker, what…" Veronica glanced over at Logan, "like two weeks ago?"

"Yeah." Logan said as he scanned the room. It seemed like everyone who was at the party was in the living room congregating around to see.

"And two of them are who I'm sitting in between. So are we going to play or what?"

Dick groaned. He didn't want to. He hated playing games with girls. Well, unless they were the naked variety. Then that was at least entertaining. "How do I know the money's real?"

"If it's not, Logan's got some explaining to do. It's his money."

"It's real, Dick. Just deal the damn cards." Logan snapped.

True to form, Veronica won the first 4 games. It was the 5th game that went to Luke and the 6th game went Logan.

Veronica shuffled the cards. "So Dick…your ego bruised yet?"

"Just you wait, Ronnie. I'm gonna catch up."

Everyone in the room busted out laughing at that claim.

"Yeah, right. Continue living in that dream world, Dick." Duncan told him.

Veronica won the next three games and Duncan won the last one.

Everyone's reactions appeared to be somewhere in between awe and shock. Veronica rose as she collected her money. "It's OK, Dick. You'll eventually get over losing to a girl." She grinned broadly as she passed him on her way to the hallway, counting her money as she went. She looked back to the living room. Now where did Mac disappear to? She knew that she had watched a few of the games. She hadn't seen her since about the 6th game though. She headed down the long, dimly lit hallway. She found Mac standing just inside the library.

"I'm Lauren, Madison's sister." She heard a little voice inside the room say.

"I'm Mac."

"That's a cool name."

"Yeah, it is." Mac paused for a moment. "So what are you reading?"

"_**The Westing Game**_. It's really good."

"Yeah, it is."

"I'll probably finish it tonight. Madison says I have to stay in here."

Mac turned when she heard loud footsteps. "What are you doing in my parents' library?" Madison demanded.

"She's read my book." Lauren told her.

"No one's supposed to be here." Madison argued. "It's off limits."

Veronica chose to enter the room then, hoping to collect Mac before World War III started. "There you are."

"And you…" Madison turned her cold gaze on Veronica then. "I won't even start."

"God, Madison." Lauren rolled her eyes. "They're here for your party."

"No, Lauren, they're crashing my party." Madison snapped as she glared at Mac and Veronica. "You need to leave. You don't belong here."

_Story of my life_, Mac thought to herself. "Well, actually…"

Veronica already anticipated what Mac was going to say, "We were just leaving, right Mac? Happy birthday Madison. Martha Stewart has nothing on you."

Veronica pulled Mac along to the front door. They were almost to Veronica's car when Logan caught up to them.

"Hey, you leaving?"

"Yeah." Veronica nodded. "I think we got what she came here for."

"OK."

"Thanks again, Logan." Veronica smiled. "Feel bad about losing another grand to me?"

"Someday you're going to tell me how you got to be so good at poker."

"Maybe someday." she grinned. "Don't get crazy with the drinking, OK?"

"I don't plan on it." Logan informed her. "I'll see you tomorrow." he grinned as he headed back inside.

Veronica frowned as she turned around. Wait, tomorrow? They had no plans to get together tomorrow. She shrugged the statement off and took Mac home. They sat in silence for a few moments.

"You think she's even read 5 books in that library? She wouldn't know _Monet's Water Lilies _unless Revlon named a nail polish after it." she snorted at that statement. "I have a blood sister I've never even heard of."

"And Madison has a brother." Veronica added.

"Why didn't they just trade us back? We would have gotten over it eventually."

"Suppose they got kind of attached in those first 4 years?"

"They should have figured it out way before then." Mac concluded. "At two, I was spitting out corn dogs and tuning the radio to NPR."

"You don't want this world, Mac. Trust me."

"Funny you say that considering it seems like you're heading back there."

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on Veronica. The poker game?"

"I enjoy taking advantage of kicking rich boys' asses anytime I can. It's fun. Mac, I don't want to be one of them. Doing the poker game tonight was just to get everyone to shut up."

"Well, it worked."

"Yeah, it did. It was nice to stun everyone." Veronica grinned. "All I want is for everyone to back off. I will admit there are a few 09er people who are friendly but I can count them on one hand. Everyone else I could care less about for the 09ers." Veronica told her bluntly. "You're better off I promise."

Mac cracked a smile. "Thanks Veronica. I'll see you later."

Veronica nodded. "Bye."

* * *

Veronica's head was pounding. This headache came on very suddenly. She couldn't get the throbbing to subside no matter how much she rubbed her temples. She couldn't understand it; it's not like she was hung over. She didn't even have a drink of anything besides her Sunkist she brought with her to Madison's party.

Her eyes flew open and she slowly sat up. It was then she realized that the pounding wasn't from a headache; it was on her front door. She glanced over and noticed the time; 6 o'clock? Six o'clock?! OK, so who was she going to have to kill for waking her up at 6 o'clock in the morning? On a Saturday no less? She threw her robe on and stomped off to answer the door. She peeked through the blinds and groaned. She swung the door open to find herself staring face to face with a smirking, wetsuit-clad Logan Echolls.

"Well, it's about time." he remarked as he let himself inside her apartment. He didn't even bother waiting for an invitation. "I've been knocking for the past 5 minutes."

"Oh, so you're the one who has been my annoying headache." Veronica muttered under her breath. "Logan, what the hell are you doing here?"

"What are you talking about? When am I normally dressed in a wetsuit? We're going surfing."

"Like hell we are."

"Uh-uh. We had a deal." He reminded her. "Besides, who got you into the party last night?"

"Yeah, I know. You did. It's 6 o'clock on a Saturday morning, Logan." she whined.

"Yeah, I'm aware of what time it is, Veronica. It's the same time I always go surfing."

She stared at his overly peppy face and wanted to smack him, "How the hell can you so damn chipper?"

"I can survive on very little sleep." he admitted, giving her a nudge. "Go change. Time's a wasting. Daylight's burning."

"What daylight? The damn sun isn't even up yet."

"Veronica, go change."

She sighed as she looked him over. "I don't even have a wetsuit."

"And you're the queen of procrastination." Logan remarked. "I have a wetsuit for you."

"Really? I'm like a whole foot shorter than you."

"It's the same one you wore last time. Now. Go. Change." he told her succinctly.

She turned and headed back to her room muttering, "You're really pushing this friend thing, Echolls." she slammed the door shut.

Logan's ears perked up. Did he hear her right? Did she just mention the word friend? He liked hearing her say that. He wanted to believe she meant it too. He would be asking her about it. Not while they were on dry land though. He'd wait until they were in the middle of the ocean where she couldn't escape from him so easily.

Veronica sighed as she dug around in her dresser drawer for her swimsuit. She thought about a 1 piece but decided against it and ultimately went for the bikini instead. She grabbed her deep magenta halter style bikini and quickly changed into it. She headed into her bathroom and threw her hair up into a messy bun. There wasn't any reason to do it any nicer; she figured she'd spend half the day submerged underwater anyway. She threw on a light pink t-shirt, light colored jean shorts and her grey windbreaker because she wasn't sure what the temperature was right now. She slid her flip-flops onto her feet and headed out.

Logan looked at her appearance and raised an eyebrow.

Veronica sighed. "I've got my suit on underneath." She pulled on one of the straps to make it visible. "See?"

"OK, ready to go?"

"No, I'd rather be sleeping."

"You owe me."

"And you're not going to let me forget it either." she grumbled under her breath. "I'm never doing Mac another favor again."

"Veronica…"

"Yes, I'm ready to go."

Once she was belted in the X-terra, she whipped out her cell phone.

"Who are you calling?"

It rang 4 times before Wallace answered.

"Wallace, yeah, it's me…yes, I know how early it is. I'm not exactly excited about it either." Veronica grumbled. "Look, I was wondering if you could do me one small favor."

Logan pulled out of the apartment parking lot and headed towards the highway.

"Well, it will take you no more than 10 or 15 minutes. Can you just let Backup out around 10?"

Logan glanced over at her. She seemed a little uneasy. She's nervous, he smirked. Interesting.

"No my dad is out going after a bail jumper. He's not expected home until tomorrow night. No, trust me, I'd be doing it myself if I wasn't being kidnapped."

"Veronica!" Logan groaned. "Don't tell him that. He'll think you're serious."

"He knows me better than that."

"Maybe normal people but this is you."

"Ha ha." Veronica fake laughed. "Yes, that's Logan. It's a long story. To the beach. Apparently we're going surfing."

"Quit saying that like you've never done it before." Logan argued.

"Yes, I've done it before, Wallace." Veronica told Wallace as he had asked her that. "Just once. Over a year ago. Because we had a deal. I'd do this and he…" Veronica shot a glance over to Logan, "has something to do that I suggested. So can you do that favor for me? Thank you, Wallace. Yeah, the key is under the mat. I know I owe you. Well, what do you want? Fine, I'll make them tomorrow and I'll bring them to school on Monday." She yawned. "I know; it's what happens when I only get like 5 ½ hours of sleep. OK talk to you later. Thanks again. Bye."

"So what do you have to do for him?"

Veronica yawned again. "Make him snickerdoodle cookies."

"You make snickerdoodle cookies?"

"Yes, back when I was on pep squad we did the spirit boxes. I make very good snickerdoodle cookies." she boasted.

"I'm sure you do." he told her as he parked. The beach, of course, was desolate but the sun was just starting to come up. It was just after 7. Logan got out and opened the back door and dug around for his surfing stuff including the wax, leashes, and wax comb for the surfboard. He found the wetsuit she had previously worn and handed it to her, "Here you go."

Veronica glanced at it skeptically, "I hope you brought dry clothes to wear after this because you know we're heading to the cemetery then."

Logan sighed, "Yes, I'm aware of that and yes, I brought some."

"Good." Veronica unbuttoned and unzipped her jean shorts and pushed them down to reveal the magenta bikini bottoms only for about 5 seconds before she stepped into the wetsuit. She took off the windbreaker and t-shirt and shivered for a second since she was clad in the halter bikini top. She slid her arms into the sleeves of the wetsuit. Logan took the liberty of zipping it up for her.

"Does it feel OK?" He asked as he got the surfboards down from the roof of the vehicle.

"Feels familiar." she admitted as she hid a smile.

"Good familiar?"

"Yeah, good familiar."

Logan walked her through the basics of getting her board ready. As she watched him wax each of them she felt compelled to pipe up, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why are you feeling the need to teach me this stuff?"

Logan frowned, "Why not?"

"No, it's not bad it's just you're acting like I'm going to make this a regular thing and we never talked about that."

"Well, I'm kind of hoping that you'll consider it after today."

"One day at a time, Logan."

"Just you wait, Veronica. By the time we get back later, I know I'll be hearing you say how fun you had being out there."

Veronica was still skeptical though. She'd like to believe that was true but honestly since it was so damn early, she wasn't making any promises that she would feel that way by the end. "So what's the likelihood we're going to run into Dick here?"

Logan shrugged, "I guess it's possible but not likely. He got pretty wasted after you beat his ass at poker."

Veronica grinned, "Ahh, that felt good."

Logan smirked, "Yeah, I bet it did."

Veronica paused for a moment then quietly said, "You know, Mac seems to think the only reason I played the poker game was because I was trying to get back in with the 09er crowd."

"And…"

"And I told her she was wrong. I just loved to beat you guys at poker. And you know, I wanted everyone to shut up."

"Well, maybe while you were there but people were talking after you left."

"Why does that not surprise me?" she retorted. "Saying what? How I must have cheated to win?"

"Hmm…maybe one or two but overall everybody seemed pretty impressed."

"As nice as it is to hear that, it really doesn't change anything for me concerning them."

"I didn't think it would." he admitted.

"None of this has been about me trying to get back in with the 09er crowd."

"I know."

"Being 'one of them' has never been a defining point in my life. It wasn't even when I was 'one of them'."

"I realize that." Logan nodded. "That was what I always found amazing about you."

Veronica raised a skeptical eyebrow, "What was amazing?"

"Just how you had the ability to be friends with the 09ers and also still be friends with the people that weren't."

Veronica cracked a smiled at what she assumed was a compliment.

* * *

Most of the morning was spent on her paddling. She got a good workout for her arms. They decided to get something to eat around 10:30.

"So how are you feeling?" Logan asked as he grabbed an energy bar and a strawberry banana smoothie.

"I'm OK." And she was. She was sure that her arms would be sore tomorrow but in all honesty she was enjoying her time in the ocean. The sun was up now and lucky for Veronica, Logan had more or less chosen a remote location. There were surfers out but not a huge amount. She grabbed some trail mix and a blueberry pomegranate smoothie. "Mmm…that's good." she told him as she took a drink of it. "And is actual surfing on the agenda this afternoon?"

"Yeah, I figured we'd try it. I'll let you take a break for a little bit though. Rest your arms cause I'm sure that all that paddling was getting to you."

"No, not really." It was only a white lie.

"Regardless. Take a break cause I'm gonna surf by myself for a little while."

"Should I take notes?" Veronica teased.

"Mental ones would be good." Logan admitted as he finished his smoothie. "Cause when I'm done, you're paddling out to me and we'll try to get you to stand up."

Veronica thought for a moment. It shouldn't be that hard; she had stood up before on the board. Granted not very long but still. Logan headed out into the ocean then and in Veronica's opinion made surfing look easy. He moved very fluidly. Of course he was a more experienced surfer. He had been surfing for as long as she could remember.

Awhile later, Logan signaled to her to come out. It took a little time and some effort to get out to where he was.

"You OK?"

"Yeah, fine." She slowly sat up her board.

"OK, now we'll turn around." Logan told her.

"Turn around?"

"Yeah, of course. We want to be facing the waves, not have our backs to them. Shouldn't be a problem since you're sitting up. If you were still lying on the board, it would take longer. Watch." Logan easily switched direction to face the waves.

It took Veronica an extra couple seconds but she found that turning around wasn't too hard.

"Good. Ready to try standing up?"

Veronica just nodded. Logan walked her through what he thought may be the best way to stand up which was to pop up quick. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side with the first try and so soon as she was almost up, her feet slid out and she fell overboard.

Logan bit back a smile as he watched her tread water.

"Hey! You're not allowed to laugh at me you know?" She flung a huge splash at him.

"I'm not laughing, Veronica." He told her. "I didn't the last time this happened either if you remember right. The last time though you gave up rather quickly after only trying a few times. Question is, are you going to do that today?"

Veronica climbed back on her board and was back in a sitting position. She pushed her bangs to the side. "No."

Logan grinned, "Good."

It took Veronica a few more times before she was able to stand up successfully.

Logan sat on his surfboard and checked his waterproof watch. It was just after 1. He decided they probably wouldn't stay out here anymore than probably another hour or two. The lull in between waves was longer. Logan glanced over at Veronica. Her hair was still in a messy bun although it was a soaking wet messy bun. The look on her face was one he hadn't seen in a long time. She looked genuinely content, dare he say happy.

"Can I ask you something?" he finally said as they waited for the waves.

"Sure. Go ahead."

"I'm not sure if you're even aware of it but there was something that you said this morning when you were walking back to your bedroom to change."

Veronica glanced over at him, skeptical, "Yeah?"

"I heard you say the f word." Logan admitted.

"You must not be around any other time I use it." Veronica told him.

Logan chuckled, "Not the R rated f word, Veronica. The G rated one."

Veronica stared at him confused.

"Friend?"

Veronica bit her lip, "Yeah, I guess I did."

"Did you mean that?"

"I want your opinion before I answer this."

"Well, honestly I'd like it to be true. I think we're just hiding behind this so called truce."

"Nobody believes the truce is real anyway." Veronica admitted with a shrug.

"So…"

"I mean yeah, I guess you can say we're friends."

"You guess?"

"Fine, I mean yes we're friends."

By the time they left at 2:30, Veronica was able to manage to catch a few waves and only fall off her board about half the time. Logan had taught her a few key moves like how to do a turtle roll and how to protect her head when she did fall off her board so that it wouldn't smack her.

After getting rinsed off, Veronica stripped out of the wetsuit and threw her clothes back on. While she waited for Logan, she checked her cell phone and saw that she missed a call from Mac a few hours ago. She promptly called her back. The phone rang about three times before Mac answered.

"Hey Mac, it's Veronica. Sorry I missed your call."

"It's OK." Mac told her. "Where are you?"

"Umm…not actually sure location wise but I do know I'm on the beach."

"You're at the beach?"

"Yeah, I…uh…went surfing today."

"You…surfing?"

"Yeah, I know."

"I take it you're with Logan?"

"Umm…yeah. I wouldn't try to go surfing by myself. Especially with the amount of time I spent in the water today."

"Are you ready to own up to being friends with him yet?"

"Well, we talked about it earlier and yes, you can use that term now."

"Finally. You two were doing horrible at getting people to believe otherwise."

"So what's up?" Veronica took out her ponytail and shook her bun out. She now had some wet yet very beachy waves in her hair.

Mac sighed, "Um…I went by Madison's place today."

"You did?"

"Yeah. I talked to my mom."

Veronica gasped, "Oh, Mac did you tell her…"

"No, of course not." Mac cut her off. She was silent for a moment, "I think she knows though."

"Maybe she does but is this the path you really want to go down?"

"I had never seen her. I just…wanted to see her."

"Are you going to stop now?"

Mac sighed, "Yeah, I think so. I just wanted closure."

Logan got in his X-terra then. "Listen, I have to go. There's someplace else we're going on this cathartic adventure."

"Where's that?"

"The cemetery." Veronica glanced over at Logan who was closely watching her. "Just like you, it's time for closure on the past. Time to look to the future."

"Yeah, the future. OK, I'll let you go. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye Mac." Veronica hung up and looked over at Logan. He had changed out of his wetsuit and into a dark green t-shirt and dark jeans.

"Everything OK?"

"Not really but there's not much I can do." Veronica told him, "OK let's stop by the florist. I want to pick up some flowers."

* * *

Veronica and Logan arrived at the cemetery at just after 3. Veronica bought a bouquet of pink calla lilies to put on Lilly's grave. Logan got a single pink rose for her. Veronica commented about it but Logan told her it's not the size of the bouquet; it's the thought that counts. Veronica couldn't argue with that.

Logan got out of the X-terra first. Veronica hadn't budged though. He peeked his head back in the driver's side window, "Aren't you coming?"

"I will." Veronica told him. "I was just going to let you talk to her without an audience."

"I don't care. You can listen."

"Go ahead. I'll be there in a minute."

Logan stood in front of the medium sized black granite headstone. _Lillian Elizabeth Kane_ was scrolled in 24 karat gold across the middle of the stone and underneath it stated: _Loving daughter, sister and friend_. He stared sadly at the stone. Truthfully anger had nothing to do with why he never came here. It was fear. He was afraid of what it would be like. Would she really hear him? Would this really solve anything? It was basically like talking to himself. He really didn't think that she would be able to hear him. He almost thought of turning around and driving away when he heard, "Talk to her."

He glanced over his shoulder and saw Veronica standing there. When he didn't move, she smiled, "So you're the expert at surfing and I have more experience at this. Want me to go first?"

Logan nodded.

Veronica moved around him, gently set the bouquet of lilies down, and took a seat a couple feet away from the headstone. Logan stood behind her and watched in amazement as she talked to this inanimate object.

"Hey Lil, it's me." Veronica gave a small smile. "Sorry I haven't been here since Christmas."

Logan's eyebrows furrowed. She was here at Christmas?

"A lot's been going on. As you can probably see I got Logan to come up here with me."

"You know she can't see that."

"I like to believe she can, Logan." Veronica whispered, her eyes never leaving the headstone. "I like to believe she can look down and see everything that is going on with us. She's watching over us."

OK so Logan really didn't believe that.

"You can deny this all you want, Logan. You don't have to believe it for it to be true. Lilly led me back to you." Veronica revealed.

Logan's eyes grew wide as he maneuvered to the side of her, "What?"

She looked up at him, "That day…in the hospital when you were talking to your mom."

"Veronica, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You remember I told you that you needed to say your goodbyes so we could get the hell out of there without being caught?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I got done in that patient's room rather quickly. Too quickly really so I was almost going to go visit another patient when…"

"When what?"

"I saw her."

"You saw Lilly?" Logan looked at her like she was crazy. It's one thing to hear her voice but to actually see her?

"Yeah, like her spirit. Heading to your mom's room. So I followed her. That's when I heard what you said about your dad."

"You really believe that?"

Veronica stared at him. Logan looked like a typical naysayer. He only wanted to believe in tangible terms as far as people went. If you couldn't touch them, it wasn't real. "Yeah, I do. I'm not saying you have to believe it, Logan but I do so don't knock it. Just because you can't see something, doesn't mean anything." She turned her gaze back on the headstone. She grinned, "So Lilly, do you like my hair?"

Logan smirked.

"Yeah, it's the end result of going surfing again. Who would have thought that Logan would have any luck getting me to go back in the ocean with him?"

Logan smiled as he stood behind her again. He slowly paced back and forth.

"We've been slowly working our way back to being friends. It hasn't been easy but that's OK. Is anything I ever do easy?"

_Isn't that the truth_, Logan thought.

"Listen, I'm going to let Logan talk to you. I'm sure I'll be back up soon. Take care Lil. I love you." Veronica rose and Logan bit his lip. Wow, he had never heard her say I love you to anyone. Well, other than maybe her dad. He never even heard her say it to Duncan and they had been together for over a year.

"Go ahead." Veronica then stood behind him.

Logan knelt down to put the rose next to the lilies. He stood back up though. He was going to keep this short, sweet and to the point. "Hey, Lilly." He said quietly. It's umm…Logan." He turned back to Veronica who told him.

"Come on." she coaxed, "Keep going."

He didn't talk though.

"Logan," Veronica stepped in front of him then. "This is your one chance. Yes, she's not in front of you but I'm sure you can still picture her and still hear her voice. This is your shot. Pretend like she's standing in front of you without the ability to respond. Like you have the ability to say whatever you want and not be interrupted. It's time to let go of all the anger and resentment. It's time to get closure."

Logan looked back at the grave and Veronica stepped back. "I can't do this anymore." He told the grave quietly. "All the pain, all the anger you've caused me." He started. "Truthfully, I've been holding it in and it's honestly getting me nowhere other than even more pissed off at you."

Veronica bit her lip as she listening.

"I loved you for as long as I can remember, Lilly. Since I was like 13 years old. I was so naïve and stupid to think you actually loved me back."

"Logan…"

"I thought you said this would be uninterrupted?" Logan asked her drily.

Veronica sighed and waved her hand for him to continue.

"Maybe you did love me. I do know you didn't love me near as much as I loved you."

_OK so that was probably true_, Veronica concluded to herself.

"Obviously otherwise you wouldn't have felt the need to screw half…hell maybe all of the PCHers behind my back."

Veronica bit her lip hard.

"I really shouldn't be surprised. I should have seen it; I chose to ignore it." Logan sighed in resignation. "You really were a lying backstabbing hypocrite, Lilly."

Veronica sighed then.

"You broke up with me for kissing a girl for barely three seconds and you…you were fucking every guy you possibly could!" He screamed.

Veronica held back tears at his harsh words. She knew they weren't aimed at her and she knew him getting out his frustration was needed but it still hurt to hear it out loud. And even worse, knowing he was justified in his anger because everything he was saying was true.

"I don't know them all. I'm glad I don't. Because if I did, I wouldn't be able to close the book on us. I'd dwell on things even more than I have been and I can't do it anymore. This is ending today...now. I'm letting you go. I'm going to forgive you, Lilly. I won't be able to move on unless I do. I'm starting with a clean slate."

Veronica cracked a smile.

"So I guess this is goodbye." he told her. "I'm not sure if I'll come back here or not. Maybe someday." Logan looked at Veronica who really was trying to be brave and not cry. He turned back to the headstone. "Bye, Lilly." He turned around then and headed to his X-terra.

"I'd like to tell you thank you for guiding me back to Logan that day in the hospital. It was heartbreaking to find out what his dad was doing to him but it's been nice he's been letting me help him. It was a surprise that he did. It's even more of a surprise that we're friends again." Veronica tucked a strand of wavy hair behind her ear. "If he's going to forgive you, I guess I need to forgive him. It doesn't do any good living in the past. You can never move forward. It's time to let the bad memories go." she glanced back at the X-terra which Logan was waiting by. "I should go. I'll stop by and see you soon." Veronica gave a small smile, "Bye, Lil."

She joined him a moment later, "How are you feeling?"

"A little bit better. I do feel better that I was able to say what I was feeling."

"Good. I'm glad."

Logan looked at his watch. It was already after 5. "We should probably go."

Veronica nodded, "Sounds good."

They arrived back at her apartment at 5:30. She got out of the X-terra and came around to the driver's side window. Logan asked, "So…"

"So…?"

"Come on Veronica you know you had fun."

Veronica grinned, "Yes, Logan. I did have fun."

"So much so, you'll come out with me again tomorrow?"

She pondered the notion for a moment, "Yeah, sure. Should I expect you at 6 tomorrow too?"

"Let's make it 7."

"Ooo…I get to sleep in." she joked.

Logan grinned.

"I'll see you later."

Veronica was almost inside her apartment when Logan called out to her. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for making me to do that. I do feel better."

Veronica smiled, "I'm glad. See you tomorrow."

_**The next day-8:30 am**_

Veronica sat on her couch and sighed. OK, she had been ready to go for almost two hours and now Logan is pulling a no show? Is he serious? She decided to call his cell phone. It rang 4 times but he never answered. It went to his voicemail: "_This is Logan with today's inspirational greeting: People living deeply have no fear of death, Anais Nin. Leave a message."_

Veronica sighed, "Logan. Where the hell are you? I've been waiting for you to show up since 7. Call me back, would you? Bye."

It almost 10 minutes when her phone rang. "Logan? Where are you? I've been waiting…"

"Veronica?" A somber voice said. Veronica didn't recognize the voice at first. Then it dawned on her.

"Mrs. Echolls?" Oh god. "Where's Logan?"

"He's…he's in the hospital, sweetie."

Veronica started to cry.

* * *

**Wow! Good that worked this time. I've had a horrible time doing line breaks at the end. OK so...just a half dozen or so notes. OK maybe not that many but at least a few. Who's all excited for the movie! I have been donating way too much money towards it. I need to stop. I'm also so happy that Kristen had her baby. Very interesting her naming the baby Lincoln. I thought to myself, hmm...I was just there two weeks ago and I get to go back in two weeks. I lived in Lincoln for almost 10 years. Love the city; miss the city like crazy! **

**OK just a few more notes. I got two surfing books on my kindle fire to help me write this chapter. The language and all the stuff I included was stuff I found in the book. I'm sure if you look up turtle roll you'll see maybe what it is. Hard for me to explain. Also the cemetery scene was a little bit of a struggle. I did have some doubts about whether or not I was going to have him forgive Lilly but I have a hard time picturing him moving on if he didn't. Last note, you can tell by how I ended the chapter that the next one is going to go darker. And the following one will be even darker after that. I will probably be doing a flashback as to why and how Logan wound up in the hospital. OK, seriously last note, I haven't updated Infinity in a little while so that chapter will be next before I get this next chapter out. OK, I'm done with notes! Review please! I love them!**


	8. Honesty

**Hey! So sorry this took so long. I really had trouble writing that scene between Logan and his dad. It could have been longer. Probably should have been longer but I figured I gave enough of it for now. I just have to tell you...26 reviews on my last chapter was absolutely amazing. I really really appreciated everyone's reviews. I'm so happy everyone likes this story. Now a reminder the story starts to go a little dark here. It's still not too bad. That will be the next chapter though. Anyway, I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint anyone. Please let me know what you think in a review OK?**

* * *

Veronica rushed down the hallway at Neptune Memorial Hospital. God, it seemed like she was just here. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She had been in a dead sprint since she stepped through the main sliding door. Logan's mom had given her the room number when she talked to her on the phone.

She glanced around, scanning the floor. There were various people at the nurses' station that included both doctors and nurses. Currently the only sound she could clearly hear was the faint beeping from machines in a nearby room. She quickly found the room that Logan was supposed to be in. Before she could go in, though, an older, heavier set nurse who had auburn curly hair stopped her.

"Excuse me miss." The nurse stepped in front of the door. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah," Veronica dried her tears. "I heard this was Logan Echolls' room. I'm Veronica, his friend."

"I'm sorry but Mrs. Echolls has explicitly stated that there were to be no visitors allowed."

"Mrs. Echolls is the one who told me that Logan was in the hospital. Could you please tell her I'm here? I know she'll let me in." Veronica told her confidently.

"I'm sorry but Mrs. Echolls said she did not want to be disturbed."

Veronica frowned. Was she serious? "Mrs. Echolls!" Veronica called out and all of the medical staff frowned at her. "Mrs. Echolls!"

"Miss, if you don't stop, I will have to call security and have them escort you out."

When the door opened a crestfallen Lynn Echolls appeared, looking haggard. "Veronica." she sighed with a sad smile.

"I apologize for the noise, Mrs. Echolls. I tried to explain to this young lady that you did not want to be disturbed…"

"It's OK, Ann. Veronica can be allowed to visit Logan. From now on, I would just appreciate it if you would check with me on the visitors. Mr. Echolls, however, is barred from coming in, OK?"

Ann gave a brief nod. "Yes, ma'am." She turned and headed down the hallway.

"How is he?" Veronica asked quietly.

Lynn slowly exhaled as she took a seat on a nearby chair, "He's sleeping right now."

"Is he going to be OK?" Veronica sat down next to her.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Veronica. He's got a lot of bruises and scars and a couple broken ribs."

Veronica stared at Logan's mom sadly, almost pleading. Her eyes started to well up, "Would you please do something now?"

"Veronica…"

Anguish was written all over her face. "Seriously what will it take for you to leave him? Does Logan have to wind up dead before you'll leave him?"

"Veronica, that's a huge extreme and Aaron felt so guilty and promised it would never happen again."

"Are you listening to yourself?" Veronica asked her, exasperated. "You're making excuses. Your husband beats the shit out of your son and you're defending him. Your son is lying in a hospital bed because of him. When will you get it that he's never going to change?"

"Veronica…"

"No, Logan just saved your life like two weeks ago." Veronica rose. "When are you going to start saving his?" she asked her as she headed for the door to Logan's hospital room. She sighed, "Please…" she pleaded as she turned around to face her, "do something now before we wind up having to attend Logan's funeral." she quietly headed into Logan's room.

Lynn sat outside the room somberly. She knew Veronica was right. Aaron always claimed it would be the last time. Then Logan would do something that pissed him off and Aaron had forgotten what he promised. She knew what she had to do. It wasn't going to be easy. It was going to be hard as hell and Aaron was not going to give up without a fight but she needed to leave him. Logan's life was depending on it. She broke down in quiet sobs for the next half hour.

Veronica slowly stepped into Logan's room. The privacy curtain was drawn but she could hear the beeping for the heart monitor and Logan's quiet breathing. She peeked around the curtain and saw that Logan was indeed asleep. She bit her lip to keep from gasping. He had stitches on the right side of his forehead. His knuckles, again, were scabbed over. This time he had two black eyes and there were several bruises on his arms. If the front looked like this, she was afraid to see what his back looked like.

Veronica glanced around the room. It was a modest sized private room with a huge window. She turned her attention to looking outside. It was already 65 degrees and sunny when Veronica headed to the hospital. It looked like it was going to be a nice day. Veronica's eyes welled up with tears.

"Stop crying." she heard Logan mumble.

"I'm not." she told him brokenly, her gaze still out the window.

"I know you a hell of a lot better than you think, Veronica." he mumbled. "You're lying. If you were telling the truth, you'd be looking at me."

She quickly dried her eyes and flipped around, "Fine. You're right. You caught me."

Logan gave her a smirk, "Of course I'm right." he looked down at the empty seat next to his bed, "Sit down."

Veronica hesitated for a moment as she looked him over. She could see the sensors on his chest that were standard for monitoring his heart. He had a pulse oximeter on his right forefinger and an IV in his left hand. He was also wearing a nasal cannula in order to get oxygen. She took a seat then.

"Do you know where my mom went?"

"Well, I had to get clearance to come visit you so she came out and OK'd it with the nurse." Veronica told him as her gazed fell intently to her lap which caused Logan to frown.

"Am I really that bad to look at?" Logan joked.

Veronica glared at him, "Yes, Logan. It is that bad." she replied bluntly."Have you looked in a mirror since you've been here? Have you seen what the bastard did to you?"

Logan shrugged painfully, "I'm sure it looks about the same as before."

Veronica's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean 'as before'? When you came to my house? No it is worse than that."

Logan grunted, "No, that's not what I meant."

Veronica gasped, "Are you telling me this isn't the first time you've been here?"

Logan threw her a knowing look, "What do you think?"

She ran her fingers through her hair, "How the hell could you not say anything? Better yet, how has this stayed a secret without being leaked to the press?"

"This hospital is very well compensated." he told her hoarsely. "You think it's a coincidence that there is an Echolls wing in this hospital?"

"Oh, god." she moaned. "Logan, what the hell happened?"

_****15 hours ago-Logan's house****_

_Logan walked into the house and it was too eerily quiet. He hated it when it was that quiet because it normally meant a storm was brewing. It was hard to tell if his father was currently there but he knew it wouldn't be long before he found out. He decided to grab something to eat. He had to smile as he made himself a sandwich. He did have a lot of fun with Veronica today. He was trying to remember the last time they had fun like today. He frowned. He couldn't think of a time. Well, that's not technically true. There were times they did; but it was as the 'fab four'; never just the two of them. He was pretty sure he was able to convince her that surfing is fun and that they should make more trips._

_Logan was up in his room when he heard the loud thud of the front door slam shut. Oh shit! Here we go, he thought. He knew his dad would be upstairs in a matter of seconds. No point in trying to lock the door; his dad would just break it down. He had done it once before. There was no place he could hide and not be found. He tried that once when he was 9 and while it took Aaron 2 hours to find him, Logan just got punished more severely because he hid instead of taking his punishment like a man. _

_Logan chose to just stay where he was: sitting on the edge of his bed playing video games. _

_It took Aaron less than 15 seconds to reach Logan's room. He swung the door open. Logan glanced over then turned his attention back to his game._

"_Where the hell have you been?!" Aaron spat._

"_Hey dad. How was your day? Mine was great." Logan asked with a smug smile as he battled one of the evil guys on his video game._

_Aaron backhanded him. Logan rubbed his cheek. "Enough with pompous attitude Logan!" Aaron bellowed as he hovered over him. "I asked you a question and I expect an answer!"_

"_I told you where I was going!" he flew to his feet. "I went surfing! The whole world doesn't revolve you, you know."_

_Aaron smacked him across the face again. "I explicitly told you were going to the wrap-party for my movie."_

"_I think you survived just fine without me." Logan retorted. "The only reason you wanted me there is to kiss your ass in front of the press so you can keep up the facade that you're the ever loving father. Screw that! Have Trina do it. She's kissed your ass her whole life. I have better things to do with my time!"_

_Aaron lunged for him and when Logan fell, he hit his head on the nightstand which immediately started bleeding. Logan kicked his dad in the stomach which did nothing to Aaron other than make him take a step back. "Listen here you little pissant. As long as you live under my house, you will obey my rules."_

_Logan rose and stared coldly at his father, "If I had a choice, I wouldn't be living here."_

"_So leave." Aaron waved his hand around carelessly._

"_Don't tempt me. The only reason I'm staying is because of mom. Until I can get her to leave, I have nowhere else to go."_

"_Well, that's never going to happen. If she leaves me, she's left with nothing. She knows that." Aaron clutched onto Logan's arm, hard enough that Logan knew he was going to have a bruise._

"_Don't be so sure about that." Logan swung his arm free from his dad's grasp. "There are some laws that you can't even buy your way out of."_

"He hit me a couple more times." Logan mumbled as he shook his head. He found out that was a bad idea though because it made him dizzy. "And I know I got in at least two punches on him. I could hear my mom's shrilling voice. Heard her screaming at him. And then everything kind of faded to black."

Veronica sighed as she grabbed his left hand gently; mainly because it was the hand that had his IV in it. Logan stared curiously at it, never getting time to question it mainly because Veronica's phone started vibrating. She glanced at the caller ID then hit ignore.

"Was that your dad?" he raised an eyebrow.

Veronica stared sadly at him, not wanting to tell him the truth. "Yeah." she nodded.

"You do realize what do you did by not answering the phone right?"

"Yeah, I know. He's probably tracking my phone right now but I needed time. **We** need time to come up with just how you wound up in the hospital."

"Maybe we should find my mom and get her involved in this so that way we all have the same story."

Veronica kept quiet. She wasn't sure whether or not she shouldn't mention the prior conversation she had with Lynn.

"OK what's with the look Veronica?"

She frowned, "What look?"

"Like you have something to tell me but you don't want to tell me."

"How the hell do you even know I have that look?"

Logan smirked, "I've known you for 5 years Veronica. I've seen that look a time or two." he paused. "Or three. Or four."

Veronica cracked a smile as she looked down and noticed how she was still holding onto his hand. She let go of it then.

"What is it?"

"I…kind of talked to your mom." she started to fidget in her chair, her eyes dropped to her lap due the guilt she felt. "When I got here. About you."

Logan frowned."And…?"

Veronica looked up, shrugging, "And I was kind of doing some pleading for her to do something now."

"Veronica…"

"I had to do something, Logan." she reasoned.

"But guilting her is not going to work. I know her too well."

"Well, I tried." she told him evenly then rose. "Let me see if I can go find her. The last I knew she was just sitting outside the door here."

Veronica stepped outside Logan's room and glanced around. Lynn was nowhere in sight. She found a nurse at the nearby station, "Excuse me nurse?"

A young brunette looked up, "Yes, how can I help you?"

"Umm…I was just wondering if you knew where Mrs. Echolls went."

"I believe she went to the cafeteria for some coffee."

Veronica thanked her and sighed as she returned to the room."The nurse said she went to get some coffee." she took a seat next to Logan again. "We don't have much time before he shows up, Logan. We just have to pray he doesn't run into your mom before he sees us." she told him quietly. "So what are we going to say?"

* * *

While Logan and Veronica contemplated a good excuse, Keith was making his way through the hospital parking lot. When he came home and couldn't find Veronica, he didn't think the worst. Until he called her and it went straight to voicemail. After leaving her a message to call him immediately, he tracked her phone and found she was at the hospital. It didn't even take him 5 minutes before he arrived there. He rushed into the hospital and headed straight for the receptionist desk.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I think my daughter may have been admitted here. I can't reach her and I tracked her to here. Can you tell me which room she is in?" he asked frantically.

"Certainly. What is your daughter's name?"

"Veronica Mars."

The receptionist input Veronica's name and scanned the computer, "Umm…Mr. Mars, your daughter is not a patient in the hospital."

He stared at her, confused. "What? Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir. Is it possible she may just be visiting someone?"

"Umm…I'm not sure. I just got back and…"

"Keith?"

Keith looked over at the entrance to the cafeteria and saw Lynn standing there with a cup of coffee. Her expression still registered extremely crestfallen. "Lynn, what are you doing here? Is everything OK?"

Lynn quietly shook her head, "No, nothing's OK actually."

"What's going on?"

"Would you…" she hesitated. She had never talked about Logan's abuse with anyone. "come sit with me? I…may need your help with something."

Keith looked around, "Umm…sure. OK." He followed her into the cafeteria.

"Did you want some coffee?"

"Sure."

Once they each had gotten coffee they had taken a seat in a corner of the cafeteria. It wasn't busy at all; a couple of people were sitting at a table at the opposite side of the room. There were a few doctors and nurses scattered around but none in the immediate vicinity of them.

She let out a heavy sigh, "I don't know where to start. Everything has just gotten so damn complicated."

"What's going on? Why are you here? Did something happen to Aaron?"

Lynn's eyes fell to her lap, "No, no. Nothing happened to Aaron. The selfish bastard." she spat under her breath.

Keith frowned, "Lynn, what's going on?"

"Logan came into the ER last night. Veronica is right now visiting him. I'm sure they're trying to come up with the best lie they can give you as to why he's in here."

"Is he doing OK?"

Lynn sipped her coffee, "He's alive yes. Beyond that, I'm not sure anymore."

"What is it?"

"First, I need your assurance that what I'm about to tell you will just stay between the two of us."

Keith glanced around. The cafeteria had pretty well emptied by now. "Absolutely."

"I've never admitted this to anyone, Keith."

Keith sat quietly, occasionally taking a drink of his coffee.

"When Logan was a little boy, he was so adventurous. Rambunctious."

Keith smiled at the image.

"He was just being a typical little boy you know?" Lynn stared sadly at her coffee cup.

Keith's eyes narrowed.

"He tended to get in trouble because of it. Nothing too serious but it pissed my husband off to no end." she let out a heavy sigh. "So much so, he felt it was his obligation to see to his punishment." Lynn had a disgusted look on her face. "Structure and discipline is the way he liked to term it. Others, of course, would consider it torture."

Keith stared at her wide eyed. "Torture?"

"Yes." Lynn slowly nodded. "Since he was eight years old, whenever Logan would misbehave, my husband would take his belt to him."

"What?" Keith gasped.

"My husband has a tendency to take out his aggression on him." Lynn sipped her coffee, her eyes lingered on the table. "I've felt powerless to try and stop it. Aaron always claimed it would never happen again." she stifled a humorless laugh. "And I always believed him. Just like I always believed him whenever he told me he loved me."

Keith frowned, "I'm really sorry, Lynn."

"Last night was the worst it's ever been though." Lynn finally looked up to meet Keith's concerned gaze. "Logan was supposed to go with us the wrap party for Aaron's movie. Aaron insisted that he be there. This would have been the first event since I had gotten stabbed and Aaron wanted to prove to the press that we were a solid family no matter what tabloid claimed we weren't." Lynn sighed heavily. "Logan knew that it was important to him and chose to ignore him."

"So what did he do if he didn't go to the party?"

"Logan told him Friday night that he had no intention of going. He told him how he had already made plans with Veronica to go surfing."

Keith looked confused, "Veronica? Surfing?"

Lynn cracked a small smile, "Yeah, he told me this morning before Veronica arrived that they recently had a talk about closure. Logan still had so much anger at Lilly and Veronica had him go to the cemetery to get closure."

"So exactly how did they wind up surfing?"

"Logan said he would go to the cemetery, but he wanted Veronica to try to surf with him again."

"He was successful apparently?"

"Apparently." Lynn smiled. "It's pretty rare anymore when my son confides in me but he told me this morning that Veronica surfing with him was one of the best days he's ever had."

Keith gave a rueful smile. He was happy to hear it but then again it made him sad because he feared that Veronica may get hurt. "So Logan's situation…is this what my daughter has been hiding from me?"

Lynn slowly nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure it is." she paused for a moment then added, "If it makes you feel better, Keith, Veronica told me she was really having a hard time keeping it from you. Logan made her swear she wouldn't tell you."

Keith nodded solemnly.

"It's been 'our little secret' for so long." Lynn admitted. "No one even suspected. Aaron had them all fooled. It was just sheer timing that Veronica heard us talking the day I was here."

Keith wasn't sure how to ask the next question so he just spit it out quickly. "Does this happen often?"

Lynn groaned.

"Was there something that happened a couple weeks ago?"

Lynn nodded quietly.

"OK." Keith then nodded. "So this was why I found Logan asleep on our couch then."

"Yeah, it is." Lynn's eyes filled with tears. "I'm pretty sure Veronica was worried what would happen if he went home."

Keith had to smile then. He was very proud of his daughter. The pieces were finally fitting together now as to why Veronica was being nicer to Logan.

"I can't do this anymore." Lynn stated. "I'm regretting not doing something sooner but that's going to change now. I need your help, Keith. I need whatever help you can give me."

"You're going to file for divorce?" Keith asked.

"Yes." she gave a brief nod. "I have to. I have to save my son here. As your daughter pointed out to me earlier today, it wasn't long ago that it was my life that needed saving and Logan stepped up. It's time I do the same."

Keith sighed, "I'm thinking it would be in your best interest to get a restraining order."

"Yes, of course."

"I can look into it and see what I can find out. I'll try and be discreet until then. I'll try and see what Cliff can do about getting the restraining order even while Logan is in the hospital. Has Aaron tried to make any appearances here?"

Lynn shook his head. "No he hasn't. I have told the nursing staff he is not allowed anywhere near Logan's room."

"Good. I'll get started on this right away."

"Thank you Keith. I really appreciate it." Lynn rose. "Well, why don't we head up to Logan's room?"

"Sure." he rose then. "Lead the way."

When the elevator door closed, Lynn turned to him and told him, "I just want you to know that I'm very happy our kids are friends again, Keith."

Keith raised a curious eyebrow, "Are they friends now? Is that what Logan told you?"

"Yeah, I guess they decided on this excursion they took yesterday that it wasn't doing any good harboring all this resentment towards each other. I realize it may take you longer to not have any animosity towards him…"

"Lynn, I am really sorry to hear what Aaron has been doing to you and especially how he's been treating Logan for all these years. You have to understand why I'm going to remain on the skeptical side for right now."

"No, I do." she quickly told him. "And you have every right to especially after how Logan has treated Veronica for this last year. If I could just ask for one small favor."

"Sure."

"Veronica has been a real good influence on Logan lately and I'd really hate for it to stop. I understand your skepticism but if you would, please don't try to keep them from being friends. I'm finally seeing my son somewhat happy again." she quietly added. "I haven't seen that in him since Lilly died."

Keith sighed. He really didn't want to. Then again, knowing Veronica, she wouldn't listen if he would forbid her seeing Logan. She'd argue the reasons with him why she couldn't do that until Keith relented. "OK. I won't try to stop them from being friends."

"Thank you, Keith." Lynn cracked a genuine smile. "I really appreciate it."

The doors opened and they made their way down the hallway and arrived at Logan's room. Keith turned to Lynn, "Would it be OK if I had a second alone with them?"

"Sure." she nodded.

"Thanks." Keith quietly knocked on the door and he heard a very small 'come in' response. He quietly walked in and noticed his daughter sitting in the chair next to Logan's bed. He frowned at Logan's appearance. How anyone could do this to their kids was beyond him.

"Hi Veronica." he nodded to his daughter. "How are you doing Logan?"

Logan gave a slight painful shrug. "I'm OK."

"Dad, I'm sorry I didn't answer the phone. I'm sure you're wondering why Logan is in the hospital…"

"I know why he's here, honey." he put a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

Veronica shared a look with Logan then looked up at her dad, "What do you mean?"

"I know Logan's dad abuses him. I know that's why he was asleep on our couch was because something happened that night."

Veronica and Logan shared a look of shock. "You do? How?"

"I told him." Lynn stepped into the room. "He knows everything."

"Mom…" Logan was astounded. He never thought his mom would ever admit the truth to anyone.

"It was time, honey." Lynn told him with an embarrassed smile. Not embarrassed because she admitted the truth to someone, embarrassed because it took her so long. "Veronica made me see that earlier. That was why when I saw Keith come through the door at the hospital, I needed to say something."

"So what's going to happen?" Logan asked as he sat up a little in his bed.

"Well, we're going to try and get a restraining order. I'm going to check with Cliff and see if there's any way to get this expedited." Keith explained.

"Thank you Keith." Lynn told him.

"I'm going to head out right now and talk to him. It may not be able to officially be filed until tomorrow."

"I understand. Just let me know what I need to do."

"Can I steal my daughter away for a minute?"

"Sure." Logan told him.

"Be right back." Veronica told him as she followed her dad out into the hallway. Once the door was closed Logan turned to his mom.

"I never thought you'd say anything." he admitted to her as his eyes dropped to his lap.

"Well honestly I wasn't sure I was going to either but Veronica was right. It wasn't that long ago that I was sitting in that hospital bed and you have saved me by donating your blood. It's time I did something. I'm just sorry I didn't do anything sooner."

"I'm so happy you're doing something now." Logan paused. "What's going to happen?"

Lynn sighed. "Well, hopefully the restraining order comes in right away…"

"Well, actually I meant you are going to divorce him right?"

Lynn nodded. "Your father is not going to make it easy but yes I am." she paused for a moment then continued, "Listen honey I did also talk to Keith about you and Veronica and he told me he wouldn't try to keep you from being friends."

Logan raised a curious eyebrow, "Really?"

"I doubt he's going to make it easy on you. He is still skeptical but he said he wouldn't try to stop it."

Logan cracked a smile and sighed as he closed his eyes. Hearing that was making him feel a little bit better now.

* * *

Out in the hallway, Veronica had followed her dad into a nearby empty waiting room.

Keith glanced over at his daughter who in turn gave him a sheepish grin. He sighed and gave her a hug.

"Sorry, dad. I wish I could have told you sooner."

"Yeah, I wish you would have too."

Veronica sighed as she walked towards the window, "He made me promise not to. He didn't think you'd believe him."

Keith sighed.

"He figured that his dad would convince you that he was lying."

"I'm sure he would try to but there are things I recognize. He tried to attack him here when Lynn was in the hospital if you remember right."

"True. I didn't think you would get anything from that. I didn't." Veronica admitted.

"Honey…"

"I wish I would have."

"Veronica, there's no real way you could have known."

"Honestly me hearing it when I did was by a total fluke." Yeah a _divine intervention_ if you will.

"Veronica, I am proud that you were trying to look out for Logan. What you're technically doing is still pretty dangerous even if you're on the sidelines but I find it endearing that you were willing to put your differences aside and try to help him. That being side I've done some thinking and I've decided that I won't try to keep the two of you from potentially being friends."

"Really?" Veronica's eyes grew wide.

"Yes but just out of curiosity Lynn mentioned how you have already decided that you were friends again."

Veronica stayed mum but she nodded her head.

"Can I just ask what made you change your mind about it? Was it really just because you found out what Logan's home situation was like?"

Veronica quickly shook her head. "No it wasn't that. I mean, I sympathized with him over that but we had a talk on the beach and he told me that I was never the person he hated the most. I told him I'm sure I was after his dad and he said that still wasn't me. He hated Lilly the most."

Keith frowned in confusion, "Lilly?"

Veronica sighed, "Yeah it turns out he found out how she wasn't faithful to him at all. He had a lot of residual anger over what happened and I told him the way to let it all go was to go talk to her."

"So you went to the cemetery?"

"Right we went to the cemetery. I told him to pretend that she was staying in front of him without the ability to speak and say exactly what he was thinking. It took him a little time but he did. He ultimately forgave her and I decided that if he was willing to do that after what she put him through, it was time to leave the past in the past. "

"You understand though why I'm still on the skeptical side."

"I do yeah."

Keith quickly hugged her, "Veronica you're my daughter and you know I love you. I would like to think that this friendship is going to withstand the test of time but in order for me to believe it, I'm just going to need some time first, OK?"

"OK," she nodded. "That's fine."

"Listen, why don't you go on ahead and go back to visit with Logan? I'm going to try and get started on this right away."

Veronica nodded as she let go from her dad's embrace, "OK. I'll be home after awhile."

"Just don't make it too late."

She cracked a small smile, "I won't. I promise. Bye."

Veronica headed back down the hall and decided to err on the side of caution and knocked before she entered. She heard Logan tell her to come in.

"Hey." she smiled at him as she glanced over his demeanor. Despite everything Logan seemed…relaxed. Relieved.

"Hey."

"Well, honey," Lynn rose. "I'll stop back in a little while. I'll leave you two to chat. The nurses know not to let your father come anywhere near your room so you don't need to worry about that."

Logan nodded, "OK. Bye mom."

"Bye Mrs. Echolls."

Lynn gave a quick wave then left. Veronica turned back to Logan who was shaking his head.

"What? What is it?"

"Nothing." he hid a grin. "I just never thought this day would come." he glanced over at Veronica whose face seemed to clear then. "I never thought she'd ever tell anyone."

Veronica gave a small smile, "Yeah, well, I think she realized that it was time to do something about it."

"You know the only reason she said anything is because of you."

"I doubt that." Veronica told him as she turned her gaze elsewhere. "You told me that guilting her wasn't going to work remember?"

"I don't know what else would have changed her mind, Veronica."

Veronica looked over at him, "Let's not question it anymore. Do you know how long you'll have to be in here?"

Logan shrugged, "Not sure. I think they said 3 or 4 days probably. Depends on how well things heal."

Veronica solemnly nodded, "Then we have a bigger issue to discuss."

"And that is what?"

"Well, what do you want me to tell people as to why you're not in school?"

"I'll have to think about that one."

"We'll need to decide that before I leave."

"Yeah." Logan glanced out the window. The sun was beaming brightly through it. "Beautiful day."

"Yeah, it is."

"Too bad we're not out in the middle of the ocean huh?"

"The ocean's still going to be there when you get out, don't worry."

"I know it will but the question is will there ever be another chance that I'll get you out there again with me?"

Veronica hesitated no more than three seconds, "Yeah, of course I'll go surfing with you again, Logan."

Just like the sun, Logan was beaming. She just made his day.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't?"

"Well, I wasn't sure." he told her honestly. "I had to wonder if it was a fluke that I got you to say yes in the first place."

Was she ready to admit this to him? She wasn't sure if she should because knowing Logan this was going to go straight to his head. Then again, he was lying in a hospital bed, strapped up to various monitoring machines and it would probably keep him in good spirits for the rest of his time here. "No, of course it wasn't a fluke. Maybe a surprise to hear myself say yes but that doesn't mean that I regret it or anything. I did have a lot of fun."

"I'm glad."

"I think I figured out the real reason you go surfing and it doesn't really have to do with alleviating pain. I mean, I'm sure that's another reason but it isn't it the main reason."

"Oh really?" Logan cocked an amused eyebrow. "Do tell."

"Well," she hesitated for a moment just based on the smirk on Logan's face. Almost like he was going to refute any reason, "actually you know what? Never mind."

"Oh come on now. I'd really like to know what you think." He coaxed. "Come on; tell me."

"I just think…" she looked over at him again, "it's the way it makes you feel when you're out there. Like it makes you forget all of your troubles. It can be relaxing." she paused for a moment then added, "I'm thinking what yoga is for some people, surfing is for you."

Logan chuckled out loud, "Honestly I hadn't thought about it like that but I can definitely see the similarity."

"So while having to endure the wrath known as your dad, surfing became your escape."

"Getting pretty philosophical there." Logan commented with a smirk.

Veronica raised a curious eyebrow, "Are you trying to tell me that I'm wrong?"

Logan quickly shook his head, "No, no. That is pretty much what surfing is to me." he smirked. "Pretty perceptive aren't you?"

Veronica shrugged, "Not really. I mean to someone who hasn't probably at least attempted it they may not get it."

"You figured this out yesterday just being in the ocean?"

"Well, the relaxing part I pretty much knew. But the angle with your father and escaping, that conclusion yes I came to yesterday."

"Can't get anything by you, Veronica Mars."

Veronica smirked, "Another thing you should always keep in mind."

Logan chuckled as he closed his eyes. Veronica glanced at the time. It was almost 11:30. "I should go and let you rest."

"No." he told her abruptly which caused her to raise a curious eyebrow. "Lunch I'm sure is going to be here soon. I won't get a chance to sleep anyway. Stay."

"Logan…"

"Veronica, please? The silence would kill me right now."

Veronica stifled a laugh. "You know you have a TV here."

Logan sighed, "There's only basic cable here though and there's more than likely nothing I'd want to watch. Please?" He was now emphasizing the word.

"OK, OK. I can wait awhile. I need to get back in a little while though."

"Your dad's doing?"

"No, I have cookies to bake if you remember right."

"Oh that's right. Wallace took your doggy out for you."

"Hey! You don't mock Wallace or my doggy, OK?" she nudged his shoulder.

Logan grinned, "I'm not. I promise."

"If you remember right, my doggy is one of your only friends in the Mars household."

Logan cleared his throat and Veronica gave him a knowing smile, "Yes, Logan besides me I mean."

Logan grinned as he stretched and moved around a little on his bed. "My mom said she got your dad to agree not to try and stop us from being friends."

Veronica nodded, "Yeah, he told me that."

"Think it's true?"

"Do I think it's true?" she looked at him confused. "Yeah, I think it's true. That doesn't mean he's going to make it easy on you though."

Logan sighed with a nod. "Yeah I'm sure he's not. Then again, I wasn't expecting him to."

There was a knock on the door and the nurse came in carrying a tray of food.

"Lunchtime." Veronica commented as the auburn haired nurse who had refused to let Veronica in earlier set the tray down on a nearby table. The nurse slid the adjustable table across the bed and adjusted the height.

Logan took the lid off his food and found he had a pork chop, scalloped potatoes and carrots, and chocolate cake. He also had a Pepsi. When the nurse abruptly asked if there was anything else he needed, he almost answered with better food but decided against it. He would have kept the cake but everything else he could have done without. His eyes narrowed at her. The woman was acting like she had a stick up her ass for some odd reason.

"No thank you, I'm fine." he replied curtly. It was time yet again to remind people of the lesson he had come to learn: money talks. He glanced over at Veronica."Did you want anything, Veronica? I'm sure the nurse would be more than happy to get you something because Echolls name tends to carry a lot of weight…and money," he emphasized that word, "in this place."

The nurse smiled politely but her eyes wanted to argue.

Veronica gave a sheepish grin, "No thank you. I'm fine."

"You sure?" Logan asked.

"Yes, Logan I'm fine."

The nurse then made her way quickly out of the room.

Veronica frowned, "So what was that about?"

"I don't know." Logan grumbled as he ate his chocolate cake, "She better get an attitude adjustment or I'll make sure she gets fired."

"Logan!"

"What?" he took another bite of his cake, "She's acting like I keep bothering her and I haven't called for her once since I've been here."

"It's probably not you."

"Then she shouldn't be taking it out on me."

"I know." Veronica told him as she watched him eat his cake.

"What?" Logan asked curiously.

"Nice to see you're eating the most important thing first." Veronica smirked.

"Well nothing else looks edible."

Veronica stifled a laugh, "Yeah, right."

"Want a bite?" he held up a forkful of cake for her.

"No, I'm good. Thanks though." she gave him a smile then cleared her throat, "OK, onto more important topics."

"Such as?"

"You've had a little time to think about it. What am I supposed to be telling these people tomorrow?"

Veronica and Logan worked out a plan. She knew the 09ers were all going to be questioning where Logan was. Normally when he had wound up in the hospital, his parents had made up the excuse that he was out of town. It worked exceedingly well when Aaron was out of town on location so Lynn could say Logan was visiting his dad. He'd always have an excuse how he wound up with bruises though. He didn't want it getting out just yet about what really happened. He knew more than likely it was going to get out but the longer he could stall the conversation, the better.

It was just after 3 when Veronica rose again. "OK, this time, I really have to go."

"Time to make cookies?"

"Yes, have to go bake some cookies and do this little annoying thing that never goes away called homework."

"Better you than me." Logan smirked which caused her to smirk right back.

"Yeah, you think that now but I will be back tomorrow after school and you can more than likely bet I'll probably have your homework with me."

"Oh you really don't have to do that." he started to argue.

"Yeah I figured you might say that." she sighed as she looked around. "OK I should go."

"You know, if you have any extra of those cookies…" he called after her as she was leaving.

"We'll see." she glanced back at him. "Bye Logan."

"See ya Veronica." he paused for a moment. "Thanks."

She nodded to him then left. It took her 15 minutes to get home. When she arrived, she found the apartment empty which wasn't a total surprise. She figured her dad would be at the office or talking to Cliff about getting a restraining order. Backup came bouncing into the kitchen then, wagging his tail happily.

"Hey buddy." she crouched down to pet him. "Sorry I haven't been spending much time with you this weekend. Your buddy Logan's in the hospital thanks to that bastard dad he has." She found his leash and his ball. "Should we go for a walk, buddy? Come on, let's go."

She drove to Dog Beach and spent about an hour playing with Backup. It kept her mind off of Logan and him being in the hospital and tomorrow with dreaded 09ers and their incessant questions. She couldn't say with absolute certainty they would be that way but she wouldn't be surprised in the least if it was that way. Nothing about them surprised her anymore. While that could be considered annoying it could also be considered a good thing. She had spent a lot of time analyzing them. They could claim to be unpredictable to outsiders (re: anyone outside the 09 zip code) but Veronica was able to see through them.

Veronica was in the process of baking cookies when her dad came home at 5.

"Hey, you're here." her dad said as he came in.

"Yep, I'm here. Been home for awhile. Just baking cookies." she told him as she started to scoop the dough onto a couple cookie sheets.

"For Logan?" her dad asked raising a curious eyebrow.

Veronica laughed, "No, no. I mean if I have extras then they may go to him but these are for Wallace. He took Backup out for me yesterday when Logan took me surfing. This is what he wanted for doing that."

"Now why would you go surfing? I didn't think you ever had."

Veronica put the cookies in the oven and closed the oven door. "I had." she confirmed. "Once. Lilly was still alive. I have a picture of me and Logan in wetsuits and Lilly, who was in her swimsuit, was in between us. Logan and I had just gotten out of the water. Duncan took the picture. I gave that picture to Logan for Christmas. He was telling me how I needed to try it again. We went out yesterday and were going to go out this morning." she explained. Her voice became quieter then; sadness was very easy to spot in it. "I called him. I thought he was ditching me. I didn't get him and his mom called 10 minutes later to say he was in the hospital.

"I didn't even hesitate. I grabbed my keys and left." she admitted as she leaned against the counter. She stared at her dad. "Just how bad is this going to get?"

Keith sighed heavily, "Pretty bad. Aaron definitely won't make it easy on Lynn. This will more than likely be an uphill battle for them."

Veronica sighed. That was what she was afraid of.

* * *

The next day at school Veronica met Wallace at his locker and gave him his cookies. He went ahead and decided to have a couple of them even before the 1st class.

"Thanks Supafly. These are awesome!"

Veronica smiled. "You're welcome. Thank you for taking Backup out for me."

"Sure. Did you have fun surfing?" he asked around a mouthful of cookie.

"Yeah, actually I had a blast." she admitted.

"I have a hard time trying to picture you on a surfboard."

"Well, I've only tried surfing twice so it's not like it's been a regular occurrence."

"But will it be?"

Veronica shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't decided yet."

Veronica took a seat at her usual table for lunch. She didn't have much of an appetite. She nervously ran her fingers through her hair. The vultures were descending; she could feel it. It would just be a matter of time before they showed up at her table. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out to look at it. It wasn't surprising that it was Logan.

_-Anything?_

_-Not yet. Give it 10 minutes. U ready for this?_

_-Y do I need to be ready?_

Veronica groaned._ –The second I tell them everybody is going to grab their phones and call u_

_-Bring it on_

Veronica stifled a laugh. "Yeah you say that now. You just wait." she mumbled as she closed her phone and put it back in her pocket.

"Hey V." Wallace came over carrying his lunch tray and a couple cookies that she had made. He took a seat next to her.

"Hey." Veronica noticed the cookies in his hand. "Seriously how many of those do you still have left?"

Wallace laughed, "The majority I promise. I've only had like 4 so far today."

"Yeah I would pace myself. I don't bake cookies very much."

Wallace took a bite of one of them and moaned. Veronica laughed. "Oh but girl you should. These are great."

Veronica cracked a smile. "Thanks. Glad to know if this whole PI thing doesn't work out, I could fall back on a career in baking."

Wallace chuckled.

Veronica then turned her gaze to her plate. She picked at her food. Wallace frowned but he didn't have time to question it.

"Hey guys."

Veronica and Wallace looked up and saw Mac taking a seat next to them.

"Hey Mac." they told her in unison.

"What's going on?" she asked then her eyes narrowed. "What are you eating?"

"Snickerdoodles. Veronica made 'em."

Mac frowned. "How come you made snickerdoodles for Wallace?"

"He took Backup out for me Saturday morning." Veronica returned her gaze to her food, picking it. It didn't look appetizing at all. Mac and Wallace shared a look.

"Veronica, you OK? What's going on?" Mac asked.

Veronica glanced up, "Hmm? Oh I'm fine."

Wallace glanced around. "Can I take this dismal mood is because Logan isn't here?"

She sighed, "No, it's because the reason **why** he isn't here." she took a small bite of her meatloaf.

"Hey."

Veronica looked up and saw Duncan standing at her table.

"Hey Duncan." Veronica took a bite of her lumpy mashed potatoes.

"Did I hear someone mention Logan?" Duncan asked, "I tried calling him earlier but he never answered."

Veronica glanced behind Duncan and noticed the whole 09er lunch table had their eyes on them.

"Yeah, Wallace mentioned him." Mac told Duncan.

"And Veronica was just about to tell us why he's not here." Wallace added.

Veronica sighed. "He got mugged Saturday night." she told everyone sadly. That was the lie that she and Logan came up with. Veronica did have to question whether or not she really thought anyone would buy that but Logan told her that's what story they were going on. Veronica hesitantly agreed. "He's in the hospital."

"What?" Dick and Duncan exclaimed.

Veronica sadly nodded. "Yeah, he dropped me off at home Saturday night after we had went surfing…"

"Wait a minute…" Dick snorted as he came over to Veronica's table. "**You **went surfing?"

"I've went surfing before." Veronica insisted. "Duncan, tell him."

Duncan blinked, "Tell him what?"

"Tell him how I've went surfing before."

"You have?" Duncan seemed clueless which caused Veronica to groan.

"You took the damn picture, Duncan." she frowned and decided to jog his memory, "Me and Logan in wetsuits? Lilly…"

It then dawned on him, "Oh right yeah."

Yeah that sounded really convincing. "I gave Logan the picture I had of us surfing for Christmas, Dick. He has it if you want to see it. Since Duncan apparently erased that memory from his mind."

"No, no. I remember now." Duncan argued. "Logan spent a lot of time begging you to go surfing with him. Once you were in the water, Lilly made a comment about how she couldn't believe you caved to him."

Veronica's eyes grew wide, "What?"

"Yeah. She didn't think you'd cave and how surfing was sooo stupid and she never found why it was so appealing to Logan. She thought he should have a different hobby."

Veronica sighed. That was sad to hear that now. On all fronts. She didn't like to believe she 'caved'; just opened her eyes a little more to the idea that there was more to life than what meets the eye. She cleared her throat then, "Please don't mention that to Logan. I was finally able to to get him to close the door on the past and Lilly and her various indiscretions."

"Indiscretions?" Duncan looked confused.

"Duncan please?" she pleaded as she looked around and saw most of the 09ers still had their eyes on them. "Just be happy that Logan is moving on, OK?"

"Yeah. Sure."

* * *

At 4:30 Veronica knocked very awkwardly on Logan's door. He called out for her to come in. The privacy curtain was pulled across.

"Hey." she called out from behind the curtain.

"Hey Veronica."

"How's your day been?"

"Long and annoying." Logan grumbled.

"Boring?" Veronica asked as she set things down on a nearby chair that was outside the privacy curtain.

"Kind of."

"Good." she came around the curtain and set 4 books on the nearby table. "Here's an excellent way to combat boredom."

"Oh man." Logan whined. "I told you I didn't want you to bring my homework."

"Yeah well can't always get what you want." Veronica smirked.

"At least tell me you brought me some cookies."

"That depends. Did you antagonize your nurses today?"

"Hey, I wasn't antagonizing her. Just reminding her that the Echolls money tends to go a long way."

"Whatever. Did you?"

"No. I didn't."

Veronica reached behind the curtain and grabbed the paper plate of snickerdoodle cookies and handed them to him.

"Awesome!" Logan took the plastic wrap off of the plate and immediately grabbed a cookie and bit into it. "Wow! These are great Veronica. Thanks."

"You're welcome." she took a seat next to him.

By the time Logan was done, he had eaten 4 cookies. She frowned. "Have you ate anything today?"

Logan shrugged. "Yeah a little." Veronica threw him a knowing smile. "What? They're good."

"Well, I'm glad you liked them." she glanced around. "I figured this place would be flooded with 09ers."

"Dick and Duncan were here. They had just left about 5 minutes before you came. I told the nurse to not allow anyone else besides you in."

"I feel so special." Veronica smiled sweetly at him.

"So why was Dick grilling me about you surfing?"

Veronica shrugged. "I have no idea. Apparently he couldn't imagine it I'm sure. I told him that I gave you the picture of it."

"Did they buy it?" Logan switched topics on her.

Veronica frowned. "What? The story as to why you're in here?"

"Yeah."

"You tell me. You saw Duncan and Dick. Did it seem like they bought it?"

"I think so. Dick seems to think a trip to the shooting range is needed after I get out."

Veronica sat frozen in her chair. "Please tell me you're joking."

"No I'm not."

"You're not seriously going to go, are you?"

"Why not?"

"Logan…" Veronica groaned as she put her face down in her hands. "First of all, you're 17. You're not going to be able to buy a gun plus I very highly doubt that you would even be allowed in the shooting range."

"The wonders of money." Logan smiled smugly which made Veronica's stomach turn.

"Logan…" Veronica slowly exhaled. Her hands were shaking. "Promise me you won't try to buy a gun."

"Veronica…"

"Promise me Logan!" she told him tightly.

"OK. Fine." Logan relented. "I promise."

Veronica stared at him sadly. She knew, as well as he did, that he was lying.

* * *

**OK so you can see the fun that's going to happen with the next chapter right? Why it's going to go darker. As for the scene with Logan and his dad, I was originally going to have Logan kick him in a different place ;) but I was picturing this fight scene in my head and with Aaron hovering over him I figured that his stomach may be a better shot. Anyway, sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I made a promise to myself I was not going to go longer than the 2 month mark with getting this story out and that was today. Anyway, I hope you liked it. Please review and let me know what you thought OK?**


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